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Cardiac Pacemaker Activity: From Single Cells to Modelling the Heart

  • Chapter
Heart Function in Health and Disease

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 140))

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Abstract

Since the introduction of the methods of cell isolation, patch clamping, cell dialysis and intracellular ion indicators, very major advances have been made in understanding the electrophysiology of cardiac cells (for recent reviews see Noble, 1984; Noble & Powell, 1987; Irisawa, Brown & Giles, 1992). As the information has been made sufficiently precise, it has been incorporated into mathematical models, starting with the Purkinje conducting system (DiFrancesco & Noble, 1985), and extending subsequently to sinus node cells (Noble & Noble, 1984; Noble, DiFrancesco & Denyer, 1989), atrial cells (Hilgemann & Noble, 1987; Earm & Noble, 1990) and ventricular cells Noble et al, 1991). These models have proved successful not only in reproducing normal cardiac electrical activity, but also in reconstructing some of the cellular mechanisms of arrhythmia, including ectopic beating in low potassium and cardiac glycosides (Noble, 1991), action potential shortening during ATP depletion (Nichols & Lederer, 1990), and the early after-depolarizations characteristic of potassium blockers and calcium agonists (in preparation).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Laboratory of Physiology, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK

    D. Noble, J.C. Denyer & H.F. Brown

  2. Army High Performance Computer Center, University of Minnesota, USA

    D. Noble & R. Winslow

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    R. Winslow

  4. Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA

    A. Kimball

Authors
  1. D. Noble
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  2. J.C. Denyer
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  3. H.F. Brown
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  4. R. Winslow
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  5. A. Kimball
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechoslovakia

    Bohuslav Ostadal (Director) (Director)

  2. Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Naranjan S. Dhalla (Distinguished Professor and Head) (Distinguished Professor and Head)

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Noble, D., Denyer, J., Brown, H., Winslow, R., Kimball, A. (1993). Cardiac Pacemaker Activity: From Single Cells to Modelling the Heart. In: Ostadal, B., Dhalla, N.S. (eds) Heart Function in Health and Disease. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 140. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3090-9_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3090-9_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6350-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3090-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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