Overview
- Nominated as an outstanding Ph.D. thesis by the University of Göttingen, Germany
- Investigates cardiac dynamics and its control from an entirely new perspective
- Reveals new mechanisms of arrhythmia development and control
- Demonstrates first systematic application of nonlinear dynamics tool (Lyapunov stability analysis) to excitable media
- Results facilitate the development and optimization of low-energy defibrillation therapies, potentially improving quality of life and as preventive measure
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Springer Theses (Springer Theses)
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Table of contents (4 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This award-winning thesis investigates the mechanisms underlying cardiac arrhythmia development and termination from an entirely new perspective. By viewing the heart as a complex system, the author uses theoretical tools from nonlinear dynamics combined with numerical simulations and experiments to achieve insights into the relationship between its structure and dynamics, thereby paving the way towards innovative low-energy defibrillation strategies. The work tackles, among other things: the effect of substrate heterogeneity on the spatial-temporal dynamics of cardiac arrhythmias and ways in which weak pulsed electric fields can be used to control these dynamics in heterogeneous cardiac tissue. The long-term vision of this research is to replace the current strategy of applying painful and sometimes tissue damaging electric shock – currently the only reliable way to terminate life-threatening fibrillation – by a more subtle but equally effective intervention. The book maps out a number of promising research directions for biophysicists and medical researchers working on the origins and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Complex Structure and Dynamics of the Heart
Authors: Philip Bittihn
Series Title: Springer Theses
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12232-8
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-12231-1Published: 08 January 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-36385-1Published: 24 September 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-12232-8Published: 27 December 2014
Series ISSN: 2190-5053
Series E-ISSN: 2190-5061
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 204
Number of Illustrations: 22 b/w illustrations, 47 illustrations in colour
Topics: Biological and Medical Physics, Biophysics, Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory, Cardiology, Numerical and Computational Physics, Simulation