Electrotonic Effect on Action Potential Dispersion with Cellular Automata

Campos, Ricardo Silva; Silva, João Gabriel Rocha; Barbosa, Helio José Corrêa; Santos, Rodrigo Weber dos

In this study we used a simplified electrophysiological simulator of the heart, based on cellular automata, for studying the electrotonic effect. This effect is caused by interaction between cells which changes their behavior. This feature homogenizes the repolarization dispersion, that leads all cells to return to their resting potential at the same time, regardless of their initial action potential duration, in order to avoid undesired excitation. For achieving this feature on our automata, we proposed a new method for updating the action potential duration, by evaluating the current duration, propagation velocity and tissue conductance. The results suggest that, despite its simplicity, our simulator is suitable to mimic traditional models based on differential equations.