This simulation demonstrates the initiation of fibrillation in porcine ventricles using an S1-S2 protocol.
S1 refers to a first stimulus, here applied at the apex and generating an electrical wave that propagates up to the base of the ventricles. Once the wave has passed, a second stimulus S2 is applied close to the apex and generates two counter-rotating spiral waves of electrical activity that ultimately break, producing a complicated pattern of electrical activity characteristic of fibrillation.
The simulation uses the porcine ventricular structure digitized at the Auckland University Bioengineering Institute by Carey Stevens, Ian LeGrice and Peter Hunter, and a porcine ionic model (Heart Rhythm 2005; 2 S301)
. One second of simulation takes 5 hours on a 96-processor Beowulf (3GHz-Xeon) using a spatial resolution of 250 microns.