Spiral wave drift induced by high-frequency forcing. Parallel simulation in the Luo–Rudy anisotropic model of cardiac tissue

Abstract

Non-linear waves occur in various physical, chemical and biological media. One of the most important examples is electrical excitation waves in the myocardium, which initiate contraction of the heart. Abnormal wave propagation in the heart, such as the formation of spiral waves, causes dangerous arrhythmias, and thus methods of elimination of such waves are of great interest. One of the most promising methods is so-called low-voltage cardioversion and defibrillation, which is believed to be achieved by inducing the drift and disappearance of spiral waves using external high-frequency electrical stimulation of the heart. In this paper, we perform a computational analysis of the interaction of spiral waves and trains of high-frequency plane waves in 2D models of cardiac tissue. We investigate the effectiveness and safety of the treatment. We also identify the dependency of drift velocity on the period of plane waves. The simulations were carried out using a parallel computing system with OpenMP technology.