A Mathematical Model of Cardiac Action Potential: Application to Wave Propagation

of the Dissertation A Mathematical Model of Cardiac Action Potential: Application to Wave Propagation by Mikhail Karpoukhin Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science University of California, Los Angeles, 1996 Professor Walter J. Karplus, Co-Chair Professor Boris Y. Kogan, Co-Chair Heart fibrillation, the main reason for sudden cardiac death, can be studied on the computer using mathematical models of action potential propagation. Full physiological models are difficult to use due to their complexity. Existing simplified models suffer from a number of drawbacks. In this research existing simplified models are studied to find out their advantages and disadvantages. This is accomplished by comparative analysis, using a developed common approach, of the three most popular simplified models: FitzHugh-Nagumo, Van Capelle and Karma. As a result, a new method of simplified model synthesis is developed, and a new third-order model is proposed which correctly reproduces the shape of action pot..