Bonhoeffer-van der Pol oscillator model of the sino-atrial node: a possible mechanism of heart rate regulation.

A Bonhoeffer-van der Pol equation with a stable limit cycle is proposed as a model of the pacemaker in the sino-atrial node to explain heart rate regulation. Standard tools, such as the phase transition curve in nonlinear dynamic system theory, are used to analyze the model and results are compared with other studies on experiments with dogs.