Motion of spiral tip driven by local forcing in excitable media

We study the motion of a spiral wave controlled by a local periodic forcing imposed on a region around the spiral tip in an excitable medium. Three types of trajectories of spiral tip are observed： the epicycloid-like meandering, the resonant drift, and the hypocycloid-like meandering. The frequency of the spiral is sensitive to the local periodic forcing. The dependency of spiral frequency on the amplitude and size of local periodic forcing are presented. In addition, we show how the drift speed and direction are adjusted by the amplitude and phase of local periodic forcing, which is consistent with a theoretical analysis based on the weak deformation approximation.     

Effects of abnormal excitation on the dynamics of spiral waves

The effect of physiological and pathological abnormal excitation of a myocyte on the spiral waves is investigated based on the cellular automaton model. When the excitability of the medium is high enough, the physiological abnormal excitation causes the spiral wave to meander irregularly and slowly. When the excitability of the medium is low enough,the physiological abnormal excitation leads to a new stable spiral wave. On the other hand, the pathological abnormal excitation destroys the spiral wave and results in the spatiotemporal chaos, which agrees with the clinical conclusion that the early after depolarization is the pro-arrhythmic mechanism of some anti-arrhythmic drugs. The mechanisms underlying these phenomena are analyzed.     

用低通滤波方法终止心脏组织中的螺旋波和时空混沌

通过让心肌细胞钠离子通道的触发门变量延迟打开, 使介质具有激发延迟能力, 介质延迟激发时间随控制电压和刺激频率增加而增加, 当控制电压超过一个阈值时, 延迟激发介质具有低通滤波作用:低频波可以连续通过, 而高频波不能连续通过. 本文用Luo-Rudy相I模型研究了介质延迟激发对螺旋波和时空混沌的影响, 数值模拟结果表明: 当控制电压超过阈值时, 介质的延迟激发可有效消除螺旋波和时空混沌; 从小逐渐增大控制电压, 在钙最大电导率较小情况下, 延迟激发会导致介质激发性降低, 使螺旋波漫游幅度增大, 直至传导障碍导致螺旋波消失; 当钙最大电导率较大时, 延迟激发会导致螺旋波失稳变弱, 这样当控制电压增加到一定值时, 时空混沌可以演化成漫游螺旋波, 当控制参数被适当选取时, 观察到漫游幅度大的螺旋波漫游出系统边界消失现象, 继续增大控制电压将导致时空混沌直接消失.     

离散可激发介质激发性降低的几种起因

采用简单的可激发介质元胞自动机模型,通过在均匀介质中引入死亡细胞、疲劳细胞以及让元胞的激发阈值作周期变化使螺旋波漫游.通过监测元胞的激发比率,发现不同原因导致的螺旋波漫游有一个共同的特点：螺旋波漫游情况下的元胞的激发比率较螺旋波不漫游情况下的元胞激发比率减小许多,表明介质的激发性降低与死亡细胞、疲劳细胞的数量以及元胞的激发阈值作周期变化有关;研究结果还表明：介质激发性的降低始终伴随螺旋波频率的减小.这些结果对心脏病的预防与治疗可能会提供有益的帮助. 关键词： 元胞自动机 可激发介质 螺旋波 漫游     

激发介质相对不应态对螺旋波动力学行为的影响

采用元胞自动机模型研究激发介质相对不应态对螺旋波动力学行为的影响。数值模拟表明：元胞激发阈值存在一临界区间,该区间的螺旋波周期会突然增加,并存在一最大周期,在合适的系统尺寸和状态数下,螺旋波周期不再受相对不应态的影响而只取决于系统的激发阈值;相对不应态导致螺旋波“Z”型漫游、小范围无规律漫游、花瓣状漫游、锯齿状漫游、风车状漫游等复杂的波头运动。观察到稳定螺旋波、漫游螺旋波和螺旋波消失,并对产生这些现象的机制作简要的解释。     

Beyond the Kuramoto-Zel’dovich theory: Steadily rotating concave spiral waves and their relation to the echo phenomenon

In numerical experiments with the Fitzhugh-Nagumo set of reaction-diffusion equations describing two-dimensional excitable media, unusual solutions are found that correspond to a concave spiral wave steadily rotating round a circular obstacle in a finite-size medium. Such a wave arises in the region of parameters corresponding to the solitonlike regime (see text); it appears due to the interaction between the peripheral areas of a “seed” spiral wave with a convex front and the echo waves incoming from the outer boundaries of a medium. The solutions obtained are in contradiction with intuition and represent a numerical counterexample to the known theories that forbid steadily moving excitation waves with concave fronts. Nevertheless, a concave spiral wave is a stable object; being transformed to the usual spiral wave with a convex front by suppressing echo at the outer boundaries of the medium, it is again recovered upon restoring the echo conditions. In addition to the single-arm spiral concave wave, solutions are obtained that describe multiarm waves of this type; for this reason, the concave fronts of these waves are a coarse property.     

离散可激发介质中早期后去极化对螺旋波影响的数值研究

通过考虑某些不应态也可以被激发,在离散可激发介质Greenberg-Hasting模型中引入早期后去极化行为,研究了早期后去极化对螺旋波的影响.数值结果表明:在适当选择参数下,早期后去极化对螺旋波有很大影响,这些影响包括使螺旋波漫游、漂移和破碎,导致螺旋波波纹被扭曲和波臂粗细交替变化,以及导致螺旋波的周期在两个值之间交替变化,产生从稳定螺旋波到呼吸螺旋波和反螺旋波的相变等.当不应态的激发阈值很高时,早期后去极化对螺旋波没有影响.对发生上述现象作了简要的讨论. 关键词： 离散可激发介质 螺旋波 早期后去极化     

分布式电流刺激抑制心肌组织中螺旋波

利用两种恒定电信号刺激介质不同区域来产生分布式电流, 外界分布式电流内化为跨膜电流后在介质中形成稳定的梯度力可抑制螺旋波的传播. 当螺旋波被消除后系统进一步演化为均匀态且对应的膜片电位采样序列逐渐趋于一个稳定值. 在考虑噪声情况下, 该方法仍然能消除螺旋波, 对其采样序列分析也验证了方法的可靠性. 关键词： 螺旋波 分布式电流 激发介质     

Suppression of the Spiral Wave and Turbulence in the Excitability-Modulated Media

Periodical forcing is used to control the spiral wave and turbulence in the modified Fithzhugh-Nagumo equation (MFHNe) when excitability is changed. The decisive parameter ε of (MFHNe), which describes the ratio of time scales of the fast activator u and the slow inhibitor variable v, is supposed to increase linearly to simulate the excitability modulation in the media. In the numerical simulation, a local periodical stimulus is imposed on the left border of the media and the periods of external forcing are adjusted according to the approximate formula ω ∝1/ε ^1/3 so that using the most appropriate frequency for the external forcing can approach a shorter transient period. It is found that the spiral wave and turbulence can be removed successfully by using an appropriate periodical forcing on the left border of the media. The mean activator and distribution of frequency of all the sites are also used to analyze the transition of spiral wave.     

两层耦合可激发介质中螺旋波转变为平面波

采用Br-Eiswirth模型研究了两层耦合可激发介质中螺旋波的动力学,两层介质通过网络连接,即在每一层介质上,每一列选一个可激发单元作为中心点,在一层介质上同一列的可激发单元只与另一层介质上对应的中心点及其8个邻居有耦合.数值模拟结果表明:通过这种局部耦合,在适当小的耦合强度下两耦合螺旋波可实现同步,增大耦合强度会导致螺旋波漫游和漂移,造成螺旋波不同步,观察到螺旋波与静息态、低频平面波和不规则斑图共存现象.在适当强的耦合强度下,还观察到两螺旋波转变成同步的平面波消失现象.对产生这些现象的物理机理做了讨论.     

具有早期后除极化现象的可激发系统中螺旋波破碎方式研究

在Greenberg-Hasting元胞自动机模型中引入了正常元胞和老化元胞,并规定只有老化元胞存在早期后除极化现象且早期后除极化可以激发其他元胞.在正常元胞和老化元胞均匀分布的情况下,研究了早期后除极化对螺旋波演化行为的影响,重点探讨了早期后除极化导致的螺旋波破碎方式.数值模拟结果表明:早期后除极化在比率约为26.4%的少数情况下不对螺旋波产生影响,在其他情况下则会对螺旋波产生各种影响,包括使螺旋波漫游、漂移、波臂发生形变以及导致螺旋波破碎和消失等.观察到早期后除极化通过传导障碍消失和通过转变为反靶波消失,早期后除极化导致螺旋波破碎有8种方式,包括非对称破缺导致的破碎、对称破缺导致的破碎、同时激发双波导致的破碎、非对称激发导致的破碎、整体传导障碍导致的破碎、整体快速破碎等.分析发现这些螺旋波破碎现象都与早期后除极化产生回火波有关,得到螺旋波破碎的总比率通常约为13.8%,但是在适当选取老化元胞密度和早期后除极化的激发下,螺旋波破碎比率可达到32.4%,这些结果与心律失常致死的统计结果基本一致,本文对产生这些现象的物理机理做了简要分析.     

间接延迟耦合可激发介质中螺旋波的演化

采用Bär 模型研究了通过被动介质间接延迟耦合的两层可激发介质中螺旋波的相互作用. 数值模拟结果表明: 延迟耦合可以促进两个螺旋波的同步, 也可导致从螺旋波到集体振荡、各种靶波、时空混沌态或静息态的转变; 在这个耦合系统中还观察到周期 2和周期3螺旋波以及螺旋波漫游和漂移现象; 对产生这些现象的物理机制做了讨论. 关键词： 螺旋波 被动介质 时间延迟耦合 同步     

Numerical Simulations of Calcium Ions Spiral Wave in Single Cardiac Myocyte

The calcium ions （Ca^2＋） spark is an elementary Ca^2＋ release event in cardiac myocytes. It is believed to buildup cell-wide Ca^2＋ signals, such as Ca^2＋ transient and Ca^2＋ wave, through a Ca^2＋-induced Ca^2＋ release （CICR） mechanism. Here the excitability of the Ca^2＋ wave in a single cardiac myoeyte is simulated by employing the fire-diffuse-fire model. By modulating the dynamic parameters of Ca^2＋ release and re-uptake channels, we find three Ca^2＋ signaling states in a single cardiac myoeyte： no wave, plane wave, and spiral wave. The period of a spiral wave is variable in the different regimes. This study indicates that the spiral wave or the excitability of the system can be controlled through micro-modulation in a living excitable medium.     

交替行为对螺旋波影响的数值模拟研究

在离散可激发介质Greenberg-Hasting模型中引入交替(alternans)行为,研究了交替行为对螺旋波的影响.数值结果表明:在适当选择参数下,交替对螺旋波有很大影响,例如交替导致螺旋波的形状振荡,形成呼吸螺旋波,交替使螺旋波漫游、漂移,甚至使螺旋波漫游出系统的边界,交替使螺旋波破碎形成小螺旋波、反靶波和时空混沌等,首次在均匀介质中观察到交替导致传导障碍,使螺旋波破碎和消失,并对发生这些现象的机理进行了分析. 关键词： 离散可激发介质 螺旋波 靶波 漫游     

Spontaneous spiral wave breakup caused by pinning to the tissue defect

The work presents a mechanism of spiral wave initiation due to the specific boundary conditions on a border of cardiac tissue defect. There are known scenarios when anatomical or functional defects in cardiac tissue may provoke the spiral wave origination, including unidirectional blockage while passing through the narrow gates, bent over critical curvature wave fronts, inhomogeneous recovery of the tissue, etc. We show a new scenario of spiral wave breakup on a small defect, which is unexcitable but permeable for ionic currents supporting the excitation wave. It was believed that such defects stabilize the rotating wave; however, as shown, instead of stabilizing it leads to the spiral breakup and subsequent multiplication of the rotating waves.     

非均匀激发介质中螺旋波的演化

采用简单的离散可激发介质模型研究了不同性质和形状的小异质性颗粒对螺旋波演化的影响,在小异质性颗粒均匀分布的情况下,螺旋波的失稳与小异质性颗粒的形状、分布密度和性质有关.数值研究结果表明:在适当的条件下,可以观察到稳定螺旋波发生漫游和螺旋波漂移出系统边界现象,首次观察到螺旋波破碎成空间无序的周期变化斑图和破碎成时空有序的迷宫斑图现象,简要讨论了产生这些现象的物理机理.     

Spiral Waves in Media with Spatial Period-2 Structure

The spiral waves in a system of two-dimensional coupled oscillators with spatial period-2 structure are investigated. We find a sandwiched spiral wave where any adjacent oscillators are in anti-phase. We show that the propagation rate of the sandwiched spiral wave is insensitive to the change of the coupling constant. The influences of the local kinetics on the sandwiched spiral wave are also investigated.     

心脏老化和收缩对螺旋波动力学的影响研究

通过用Greenberg-Hasting元胞自动机模型的邻域半径和激发阈值的增大来模拟心脏老化,用邻域半径交替变化代替心脏收缩与舒张,数值模拟研究了心脏老化和有规律收缩对螺旋波动力学的影响.结果表明:心脏老化会导致螺旋波漫游和不能产生螺旋波,既可以使螺旋波波长缩短和螺旋波周期维持不变,也可以使螺旋波的波长变长和周期增大;在心脏老化和有规律收缩共同作用下,系统可出现不同形状的螺旋波斑图、螺旋波发生破碎和消失等现象,给出了心力衰竭、心颤、死亡的发生概率,这些结果与流行病相关调查结果基本符合.     

Breakup of Spiral Waves in Coupled Hindmarsh--Rose Neurons

Breakup of spiral wave in the Hindmarsh-Rose neurons with nearest-neighbour couplings is reported. Appropriate initial values and parameter regions are selected to develop a stable spiral wave and then the Gaussian coloured noise with different intensities and correlation times is imposed on all neurons to study the breakup of spiral wave, respectively. Based on the mean field theory, the statistical factor of synchronization is defined to analyse the evolution of spiral wave. It is found that the stable rotating spiral wave encounters breakup with increasing intensity of Gaussian coloured noise or decreasing correlation time to certain threshold.     

Scroll waves in spherical shell geometries

The evolution of scroll waves in excitable media with spherical shell geometries is studied as a function of shell thickness and outer radius. The motion of scroll wave filaments that are the locii of phaseless points in the medium and organize the wave pattern is investigated. When the inner radius is sufficiently large the filaments remain attached to both the inner and outer surfaces. The minimum size of the sphere that supports spiral waves and the maximum number of spiral waves that can be sustained on a sphere of given size are determined for both regular and random initial distributions. When the inner radius is too small to support spiral waves the filaments detach from the inner surface and form a curved filament connecting the two spiral tips in the surface. In certain parameter domains the filament is an arc of a circle that shrinks with constant shape. For parameter values close to the meandering border, the filament grows and collisions with the sphere walls lead to turbulent filament dynamics. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.