Circularly polarized electric fields provide a promising low-voltage approach to unpin spiral waves in cardiac tissues, potentially offering a better alternative to terminate arrhythmias.
Offers low-voltage option in experimental arrhythmia models; leaves open translation to clinical defibrillation.
Spiral waves anchored to obstacles in cardiac tissues may cause lethal arrhythmia. To unpin these anchored spirals, comparing to high-voltage side-effect traditional therapies, wave emission from heterogeneities (WEH) induced by the uniform electric field (UEF) has provided a low-voltage alternative. Here we provide a new approach using WEH induced by the circularly polarized electric field (CPEF), which has higher success rate and larger application scope than UEF, even with a lower voltage. And we also study the distribution of the membrane potential near an obstacle induced by CPEF to analyze its mechanism of unpinning. We hope this promising approach may provide a better alternative to terminate arrhythmia.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Feng et al. (2014) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: