Received October 10, 2005
Revised November 9, 2005
Accepted after revision January 16, 2006
Heart/Cardiac Muscle [240]
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Cardiac Electrophysiology and Tissue Structure: Bridging the Scale Gap with a Joint Measurement and Modelling Paradigm
Mark L Trew 1*,
Bryan J Caldwell 1,
Gregory B Sands 1,
Darren A Hooks 1,
Dean C.S. Tai 1,
Travis M Austin 1,
Ian J LeGrice 1,
Andrew J Pullan 1,
Bruce H Smaill 1
1 University of Auckland
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: m.trew{at}auckland.ac.nz.
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Abstract |
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Significant tissue structures exist in cardiac ventricular tissue that are of supra-cellular dimension. It is hypothesised that these tissue structures contribute to the discontinuous spread of electrical activation, may contribute to arrhymogenesis and also provide a substrate for effective cardioversion. However, the influences of these mesoscale tissue structures in intact ventricular tissue are difficult to understand solely on the basis of experimental measurement which furnishes data at scales of larger magnitude. To bridge the scale gap between mesoscale tissue structures and macroscale tissue level experimental observations we use tissue specific structure and mathematical modelling. Our models have enabled us to consider key hypotheses regarding discontinuous activation. We also consider the future developments of our intact tissue experimental programme.
Key Words:
Action potential, Cardiac muscle, Electrophysiology
