Our next Lunch and Learn will be held Thursday, Mar. 6, in the Physics Interaction Zone. Please note the change in location for this week only. We will have lunch at 12:00 noon followed by a talk from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
Speaker: Evan Rheaume, Fenton Lab
Title: Phase Space Perturbations as a Defibrillation Technique in Cardiac Tissue
Abstract: Contractions of the heart are based on the propagation of voltage waves of action potentials, which can destabilize and form spiral waves that can drive arrythmias. The tip of a spiral wave can be defined as an origin point within the action potential limit cycle in phase space. By observing action potentials in phase space, we can isolate the region of cells in a simulation which corelate to the same point in the action potential limit cycle. Previous studies show that a small stimulus across the refractory wave back allows for the instantaneous movement of the spiral wave’s tip across physical space which allows for control and termination of spiral waves (defibrillation). We have expanded this study to include perturbations at any point during the action potential limit cycle which are capable of causing defibrillation. The defibrillation success relies on the phase space location and size of the perturbation area, as well as the strength of the perturbation across the phase singularity location in phase space. Here we demonstrate this defibrillation method in the FitzHugh-Nagumo model.
