2008/06/30 by Stuart Morgan, S. W. Morgan, Irina V. Biktasheva +2
Computer Science · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustics #Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction #Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias #Chaotic #Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis #Computer science #Mechanics #Modulation (music) #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Perturbation (astronomy) #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Turbulence #Wave turbulence #nlin.PS
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.78.046207
13 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys Rev E 2008/06/13. Last version: 2008/09/18, after review
arxiv created 2008/09/19 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/17 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Turbulence of scroll waves is a sort of spatiotemporal chaos that exists in three-dimensional excitable media. Cardiac tissue and the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction are examples of such media. In cardiac tissue, chaotic behavior is believed to underlie fibrillation which, without intervention, precedes cardiac death. In this study we investigate suppression of the turbulence using stimulation of two different types, "modulation of excitability" and "extra transmembrane current." With cardiac defibrillation in mind, we used a single pulse as well as repetitive extra current with both constant and feedback controlled frequency. We show that turbulence can be terminated using either a resonant modulation of excitability or a resonant extra current. The turbulence is terminated with much higher probability using a resonant frequency perturbation than a nonresonant one. Suppression of the turbulence using a resonant frequency is up to fifty times faster than using a nonresonant frequency, in both the modulation of excitability and the extra current modes. We also demonstrate that resonant perturbation requires strength one order of magnitude lower than that of a single pulse, which is currently used in clinical practice to terminate cardiac fibrillation. Our results provide a robust method of controlling complex chaotic spatiotemporal processes. Resonant drift of spiral waves has been studied extensively in two dimensions, however, these results show for the first time that it also works in three dimensions, despite the complex nature of the scroll wave turbulence.