NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF SYNCHRONIZED PACING

Pak et al.1 demonstrated an experimental technique for termination of fibrillation in the heart. Their method used feedback pacing, and resulted in an eight-fold increase in the success rate compared to conventional overdrive pacing. Our goal is to study this technique numerically. Computer simulations were performed using the Fenton-Karma model of membrane excitability, with a correction introduced to allow more realistic modeling of external stimulation. We found that both overdrive pacing and independent synchronized pacing resulted in significantly improved success compared to spontaneous termination of fibrillation. We conclude that synchronized pacing may provide a low-energy alternative to traditional defibrillation.