Excitable membranes are an important type of nonlinear dynamical system, and their study can be used to provide a connection between physical and biological circuits. We discuss two models of excitable membranes important in cardiac and neural tissues. One model is based on the Fitzhugh–Nagumo equations, and the other is based on a three-transistor excitable circuit. We construct a circuit that simulates reentrant tachycardia and its treatment by surgical ablation. This project is appropriate for advanced undergraduates as a laboratory capstone project or as a senior thesis or honors project and can also be a collaborative project, with one student responsible for the computational predictions and another for the circuit construction and measurements.
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January 2010
PAPERS|
January 01 2010
Modeling excitable systems: Reentrant tachycardia
Jarrett L. Lancaster;
Jarrett L. Lancaster
a)
Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of North Carolina Greensboro
, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
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Edward H. Hellen;
Edward H. Hellen
b)
Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of North Carolina Greensboro
, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
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Esther M. Leise
Esther M. Leise
Department of Biology,
University of North Carolina Greensboro
, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
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a)
Current address: Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003.
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Am. J. Phys. 78, 56–63 (2010)
Article history
Received:
July 21 2008
Accepted:
September 20 2009
Citation
Jarrett L. Lancaster, Edward H. Hellen, Esther M. Leise; Modeling excitable systems: Reentrant tachycardia. Am. J. Phys. 1 January 2010; 78 (1): 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3246868
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