The databases for this research are so complex that mathematical approaches such as combinatorics, pattern recognition, and sequence comparisons are required. Mathematics and Cardiac Cells Researchers in the Applied Mathematics program at the University of Arizona are integrating equations that simulate the propagation of electrical impulses within a flat sheet of cardiac cells. In cardiac muscle, these electrical signals tell the cells to contract. In this equation e is the amplitude of the electrical signal and v represents all the other variables specific to the particular model used to represent the electrical properties of the cardiac cells. The three-dimensional colored surface is obtained by using elevation to represent the amplitude e of the electrical signal at each point of the sheet of cells at a selected time.
Color is used to simultaneously represent the value of the v components in the equation.
Simply put, the method measures the differences in the concentration of water in different regions of the body which show up more or less bright on an MRI image. Researchers Richard Judson and Carl Melius at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California are developing mathematical methods for designing better agents to enhance the contrast. These agents are commonly used to pinpoint the cause of stroke in the brain and abnormalities in the blood flow in the kidneys. The view of a model agent shows the results of calculating the electrostatic potential about the compound when it is emersed in a water-like medium. In the figure, gadolinium is a silver ball, oxygen atoms are red, carbon atoms are light blue, nitrogen are dark blue, and hydrogen are white.