Key result
A circularly polarized electric field can be optimized to induce phase locking of stimulated excitations around multiple virtual electrodes, effectively removing spiral turbulence.
Why the study?
Defibrillation using virtual electrode effects is a promising alternative to high-voltage electric shocks, and earlier work demonstrated that a low-voltage circularly polarized electric field is more efficient at turning non-excitable tissue defects into virtual electrodes.
A low voltage circularly polarized electric field can efficiently turn non-excitable defects into virtual electrodes to remove spiral turbulence, offering a potential low-energy alternative for defibrillation.
Hypothesis-generating for arrhythmia termination; requires validation in biological models before any clinical consideration.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death and is often accompanied by cardiac fibrillation. Defibrillation using the virtual electrode effects is a promising alternative compared to using the high-voltage electric shock in the clinic. Our earlier works [S. L. Murphy, K. D. Kochanek, J. Xu, and E. Arias, NCHS Data Brief 427 (2021); R. A. Gray, A. M. Pertsov, and J. Jalife, Nature 392, 75-78 (1998); F. X. Witkowski, L. J. Leon, P. A. Penkoske, W. R. Giles, M. L. Spano, W. L. Ditto, and A. T. Winfree, Nature 392, 78-82 (1998); M. Santini, C. Pandozi, G. Altamura, G. Gentilucci, M. Villani, M. C. Scianaro, A. Castro, F. Ammirati, and B. Magris, J. Interv. Card. Electrophysiol. 3, 45-51 (1999).] prove that, compared with other external electric fields, a low voltage circularly polarized electric field is more efficient in turning non-excitable defects in cardiac tissue into virtual electrodes. It, therefore, needs lower voltage to stimulate the excitation waves and causes less harm to reset the spiral turbulence of cardiac excitation for defibrillation. In this paper, we investigate the virtual electrode effect of multiple defects by the circularly polarized electric field for the removal of spiral turbulence. Considering different shapes, sizes, and distributions of multiple defects, we reveal the phase locking of stimulated excitations around multiple virtual electrodes. Furthermore, the circularly polarized electric field parameters are optimized to remove the spiral turbulence.
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Feng et al. (2022) studied Cardiac fibrillation. Circularly polarized electric field vs. Other external electric fields was evaluated on Removal of spiral turbulence. A circularly polarized electric field can be optimized to induce phase locking of stimulated excitations around multiple virtual electrodes, effectively removing spiral turbulence.
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