Model study of vector-loop morphology during electrical mapping of microscopic conduction in cardiac tissue

The large variety in loop morphology of potential differences recorded at the cardiac surface has been generally attributed to structural discontinuities of the tissue. The aim of this work was to examine if the diversity of vector loops of the electric field E found experimentally may also arise during continuous anisotrope conduction. For this purpose a monodomain computer model was used, consisting of a two-dimensional sheet of excitable tissue surrounded with an unbounded volume conductor. Close to the tissue surface our computations predicted a narrow biphasic course of phi(e) with peak-to-peak separation of less than 400 microm. We examined how accurately E could be reconstructed from measurements recorded with four-element electrode arrays and how activation sequence, interelectrode spacing, and probe orientation affects the results. We found "closed" vector loops of E in planar, and at the apex of elliptical wave fronts, whereas outside of these regions vector loops were "open." Varying probe orientation and size resulted in substantial changes of vector-loop morphology. We concluded that close to the cardiac current sources accurate measurement of E would require interelectrode distances of less than 100 microm.