A Finite Element Model for The Axon of Nervous Cells

S. Elia[1], P. Lamberti[1], and V. Tucci[1]
[1]Dept. of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy
Published in 2009

This paper proposes a FEM model for a segment of a nervous cell axon, which takes into account, through the so called Hodgkin-Huxley equations, the non linear and time varying dynamics of the membrane surrounding it. A combination with Maxwell equations is performed in a numerical procedure implemented in the COMSOL Multiphysics® environment. A thin layer approximated alternative model is presented too, which proves to reduce calculus burden. Results are shown demonstrating a very good agreement with literature data for both the proposed approaches.

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