Insights into electrophysiological studies with papillary muscle by computational models

Abstract

Basic electrical properties and electrophysiological mechanisms of cardiac tissue have been frequently researched applying preparations of papillary muscle. Advantages of these preparations are the simplicity to satisfy their metabolic demands and the geometrical elementariness in comparison to wedge and whole heart preparations. In this computational study the spatio-temporal evolution of activation fronts in papillary muscle was reconstructed with a bidomain model of electrical current flow and a realistic electrophysiological model of cardiac myocytes. The effects of two different pacing sites were investigated concerning the distribution of extracellular potentials and transmembrane voltages. Results of simulations showed significant changes of the resulting wave fronts and the related potential distributions inside of the muscle and in the bath for the different pacing sites. Additionally, the results indicated that reliable measurements of activation times can be carried out only in regions adjacent to the wave front. These results can be applied for development of measurement setups and techniques for analysis of experimental studies of papillary muscle. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.