A Three-Dimensional Cardiomyocyte-Based Sub-Threshold Cardiac Communication System

Diseases linked to abnormal cardiac electrical activity, such as arrhythmias and heart failure, are closely associated with impaired electrical signal conduction between cardiomyocytes. Existing research on nano-communication has primarily used simplified one-dimensional cellular models, which inadequately represent the complex structure and signal transmission dynamics of three-dimensional cardiomyocytes. This limitation hampers a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying these diseases at the microscale level. To overcome this, the present study developed a subthreshold cardiac communication system based on a three-dimensional cardiomyocyte model. By simulating signal propagation through coupled cell chains and utilizing on–off keying modulation for information encoding, the transmission performance of this system was systematically evaluated in a noisy environment. Under optimized conditions, the system achieved high-fidelity information transfer, and modulated noise levels can enhance signal quality through a random facilitation effect. This study offers a novel analytical framework for exploring the communication mechanisms of weak signals between cardiomyocytes and the pathophysiology of diseases associated with abnormal cardiac electrical activity.