Fig. 9.
Interaction of break excitations with sinus activations. Epicardial Vm distributions show the evolution of break excitation wavefronts at different time instances in the first 150 ms (columns) after battery release at different times between 50 and 250 ms after the previous PS sinus beat (having occurred during battery application). The battery was initially applied 150 ms after a sinus beat; thus, total application durations ranged from 250 to 450 ms. If the battery is released too soon after the previous sinus beat (<150 ms), the induced break excitations have little excitable tissue to propagate into and thus rapidly terminate. If released later after the previous sinus beat (>150 ms), the distal tissue has recovered sufficiently to allow initial break excitation propagation, which is slowed slightly, facilitating reentry.