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Cardiac Oscillations and Arrhythmia Analysis

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Book cover Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine

Abstract

In current medical practice, the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in people is carried out without mathematical analysis of the underlying mechanisms of the underlying rhythm. In this article I describe how nonlinear dynamics is being used to formulate mathematical models of cardiac arrhythmias, and to demonstrate the ways the mathematics can be used to predict the changes in rhythms that occur as physiological parameters vary. In spatially heterogeneous cardiac tissue culture, a number of different patterns of spatiotemporal activity can be found, including propagating plane waves, rotating spiral waves, and spiral waves that spontaneously initiate and terminate. These paroxysmal patterns are similar to the paroxysmal rhythms observed during cardiac arrhythmias in people. Mathematical analyses of cardiac arrhythmias can be used to determine automatically if certain arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, are present in individuals. Attempts are also underway to develop new methods to analyze normal and abnormal cardiac activity in patients to better assess the risk of fatal arrhythmias before they occur.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

    Leon Glass (Isadore Rosenfeld Chair in Cardiology)

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  1. Leon Glass
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Correspondence to Leon Glass .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard-MIT (HST) Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, East Bldg. 149, 13th Street, Charlestown, MA, 02129

    Thomas S. Deisboeck M.D. (Assistant Professor of Radiology (HMS, MGH, HST) and Director, Complex Biosystems Modeling Laboratory) (Assistant Professor of Radiology (HMS, MGH, HST) and Director, Complex Biosystems Modeling Laboratory)

  2. Dept. of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Drexel Univ. College of Medicine, 215 N. 15th Street, MS# 111, Philadelphia, PA, 19102-1192

    J. Yasha Kresh Ph.D., F.A.C.C. (Professor, Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director) (Professor, Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director)

  3. Cardiovascular Biophysics, Drexel Univ. College of Medicine, 215 N. 15th Street, MS# 111, Philadelphia, PA, 19102-1192

    J. Yasha Kresh Ph.D., F.A.C.C. (Professor, Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director) (Professor, Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director)

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Glass, L. (2006). Cardiac Oscillations and Arrhythmia Analysis. In: Deisboeck, T.S., Kresh, J.Y. (eds) Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine. Topics in Biomedical Engineering International Book Series. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-33532-2_16

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