Initiation and termination of spiral waves in a two-dimensional bidomain model of cardiac tissue

摘要

Spiral waves in cardiac tissue serve as a simplified model of ventricular fibrillation (VF). Initiation and termination of the spiral wave is studied in a computer model. The computer model comprises a two dimensional, bidomain, discontinuous and anisotropic network of cardiac cells. In an analogous experimental preparation, electrical activity is imaged using a voltage sensitive fluorescent dye. The model and the experiment reproduce similar spiral wave activity. Application of electrical shock of adequate strength, in the model as well as the experiment, eliminated the spiral wave pattern.