We present a framework for cardiac motion recovery using the adjustment of an electromechanical model of the heart to cine Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI). This approach is based on a constrained minimisation of an energy coupling the model and the data. Our method can be seen as a data assimilation of a dynamic system that allows us to weight appropriately the confidence in the model and the c...

Flexoelectricity is an electromechanical effect coupling polarization to strain gradients. It fundamentally differs from piezoelectricity because of its size-dependence and symmetry. Flexoelectricity is generally perceived as a small effect noticeable only at the nanoscale. Since ferroelectric ceramics have a particularly high flexoelectric coefficient, however, it may play a significant role a...

Transport measurements allow sensitive detection of nanomechanical motion of suspended carbon nanotubes. It has been predicted that when the electromechanical coupling is sufficiently large a bistability with a current blockade appears. Unambiguous observation of this transition by current measurements may be difficult. Instead, we investigate the mechanical response of the system, namely, the ...

Optimal cardiac pump function depends on ordered mechanical events that are orchestrated by electrical timing. This electromechanical coupling occurs at multiple anatomic levels: within atria, between atria and ventricles, between ventricles, and especially within the left ventricle (LV). Such disruptions to proper electrical timing result in disordered mechanical events (desynchronization, or ...

Nanoscale electromechanical activity, remanent polarization states, and hysteresis loops in paraelectric TiO(2) and SrTiO(3) thin films are observed using scanning probe microscopy. The coupling between the ionic dynamics and incipient ferroelectricity in these materials is analyzed using extended Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire (LGD) theory. The possible origins of electromechanical coupling includ...