Control of electrical alternans in canine cardiac purkinje fibers. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Alternation in the duration of consecutive cardiac action potentials (electrical alternans) may precipitate conduction block and the onset of arrhythmias. Consequently, suppression of alternans using properly timed premature stimuli may be antiarrhythmic. To determine the extent to which alternans control can be achieved in cardiac tissue, isolated canine Purkinje fibers were paced from one end using a feedback control method. Spatially uniform control of alternans was possible when alternans amplitude was small. However, control became attenuated spatially as alternans amplitude increased. The amplitude variation along the cable was well described by a theoretically expected standing wave profile that corresponds to the first quantized mode of the one-dimensional Helmholtz equation. These results confirm the wavelike nature of alternans and may have important implications for their control using electrical stimuli.

publication date

  • March 17, 2006

Research

keywords

  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac
  • Biophysics
  • Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac
  • Purkinje Fibers

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC1566349

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 33644958603

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.104101

PubMed ID

  • 16605736

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 96

issue

  • 10