NA3D

SYNOPSIS

Perform mesh construction

SYNTAX

na3d -commands FileRoot

DESCRIPTION

This program is used to build mesh files for use in simulations with dart and in presentations with the
cvrti program. na3d takes the specifications in -commands and assembles files: The program will build 1-D (cables), 2-D (sheets) and 3-D (parallelpiped) meshes with regular geometries. Both uniform and nonuniform anisotropy models are supported.

SPECIFICATIONS

Specification of geometry

na3d builds models as sets of interconnected cables using descriptions of the desired spacing between nodes in x-, y- and z-directions and of the desired model dimensions. In the assembly of a cable model, nodes are laid down on a line between two endpoints. Node numbering is sequential from the origin (node 1) to the terminal (node NX).

In the assembly of a sheet model, additional cables are laid down on top of the first cable. Nodes are numbered along the x-axis in each cable, although the origin node numbers for each cable are (1,NX+1, 2*NX+1 ... (NY-1)*NX+1) and the terminal node numbers are (NX, 2*NX, 3*NX ... NY*NX).

In the assembly of parallelpiped models, sets of sheets are laid on top of one another. The corner node numbers for the origin sheet are: 1 (lower left corner), NX (lower right corner), (NY-1)*NX+1 (upper left corner) and NX*NY (upper right corner). Node numbering for the sheet just above the origin sheet starts at (NY*NX)+1. The corner node numbers in the top level sheet are: sheet are: NX*NY*(NZ-1)+1 (lower left corner), NX*NY*(NZ-1)+NX (lower right corner), NX*NY*(NZ-1)+NX*(NY-1)+1 (upper left corner) and NX*NY*NZ (upper right corner).

After cables are laid down, connections are made between nodes to form the different models. A 5-point finite difference stencil is used to connect nodes in sheet models. A 7-point finite difference stencil is used to connect nodes in parallelpiped models. Boundary nodes are set as connections to node number 0.

Specification of conductivity parameters

na3d will assemble conductivity matrix entries for every connection in the model using specified tissue conductivities. na3d expects the longitudinal and transverse conductivities to be specified as input. Conductivities are specified in units of S/m . From these conductivities and the specified fiber directions relative to the model axes, conductivities in the x-, y- and z-directions are determined. For example, in the standard cable equation:

the specified conductivity is analogous to the term with in units of and in units of . With and , the conductivity parameter would be .

Specification of fiber directions

na3d allows specification of the fiber orientation for the full model or for regions within the model.

Specification of regional parameter definition

na3d allows specification of unique conductivity parameters for regions whose boundaries are specified in rectangular coordinates. Regional parameter definition is useful to define areas of low conductivity in models with nonuniform anisotropy or conductive inhomogeneity and in models in which the interstitial and extracellular volume conductors are included.

The region concept can also be used to generate an independent mask file for each region. The mask can then be used to create inhomogeneous distributions of model parameters in the creation of xxx.inp files for use in dart simulations. Specification of percent resistive inhomogeneity na3d allows randomly distributed point barriers as one form of nonuniform anisotropy. A value between 0.0 and 1.0 will be taken as the fraction of connections at which a high resistance is to be assigned. A value between 1.0 and 2.0 will be taken as the fraction of transverse connections at which a high resistance is to be assigned. Transverse connections are determined as those connections with cable radius less than 90 of the cable radius for the longitudinal fiber direction.

COMMANDS

-bx,by,bz
Lower left corner coordinate of the constructed mesh (cm)

-cx,cy,cz
Upper right corner coordinate of the constructed mesh (cm)

-dx,dy,dz
Spatial discretization of the constructed mesh (cm)

-nx,ny,nz
Number of nodes in the constructed mesh in each direction (cm)

-gl
Specify the longitudinal conductivity (S/m)

-gt
Specify the transverse conductivity (S/m)

-fa
Specify the fiber angle relative to the x-axis (radians)

-f
Specify the fraction of HIGH resistance connections

-zn
Specify the number of rotation layer (SEE ABOVE DESCRIPTION)

-lrg
Specify a region for specific operations (integer 1-99)

-lgl
Specify longitudinal conductivity

-lgt
Specify transverse conductivity

-lfa
Specify the fiber angle relative to the x-axis

-lbx,lby,lbz
Lower left corner coordinate of region (cm)

-lcx,lcy,lcz
Upper right corner coordinate of region (cm)

-lmask
Create a region mask and stor in the file mask.nn

-lrc
Indicate region parameter definition is complete

EXAMPLES

na3d works like a number of UNIX filter functions and provides no internal manipulation. All operations are specified at the command line.

1. na3d -cx 1.0 -dx 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 test

A cable with 101 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart and a longitudinal conductivity of 0.00004 S/m will be assembled and stored files test.keys, test.cond and test.pts.

2. na3d -cx 0.1 -dx 0.01 -cy 0.1 -dy 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 -gt 4.0e-6 test

A sheet with 11*11=121 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart, conductivities of 0.00004 S/m (longitudinal fiber direction) and 0.000004 S/m (transverse fiber direction) will be assembled and stored files test.keys, test.cond and test.pts.

3. na3d -cx 0.1 -dx 0.01 -cy 0.1 -dy 0.01 -cz 0.1 -dz 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 -gt 4.0e-6 test

A parallelpiped with 11*11*11=1331 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart, conductivities of 0.00004 S/m (longitudinal fiber direction) and 0.000004 S/m (transverse fiber direction) will be assembled.

4. na3d -nx 10 -dx 0.01 -ny 10 -dy 0.01 -nz 10 -dz 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 -gt 4.0e-6 test

A parallelpiped with 10*10*10=1000 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart, conductivities of 0.00004 S/m (longitudinal fiber direction) and 0.000004 S/m (transverse fiber direction) will be assembled.

5. na3d -nx 10 -dx 0.01 -ny 10 -dy 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 -gt 4.0e-6 -f 0.10 test

A sheet model with 10*10=100 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart, in which 10 of the connections in the model will be assigned conductivities of 10*gt to represent point barriers.

6. na3d -nx 10 -dx 0.01 -ny 10 -dy 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 -gt 4.0e-6 -f 1.10 test

A sheet model with 10*10=100 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart, in which 10 of the connections aligned with the transverse fiber direction in the model will be assigned conductivities of 10*gt to represent point barriers.

7. na3d -nx 10 -dx 0.01 -ny 10 -dy 0.01 -gl 4.0e-5 -gt 4.0e-6 -lrg 0 -lbx 0.0 -lby 0.0 -lcx 0.03 -lcy 0.03 -lgl 1.0e-6 -lgt 1.0e-6 -lrc test

A sheet model with 10*10=100 nodes spaced 0.01 cm apart, in which the grid of nodes in the region (x:0.00,0.03; y:0.00,0.03) are prescribed different conductivities from those of the rest of the model.