Predicting the entrainment of reentrant cardiac waves using phase resetting curves

Excitable media, such as the Belousov-Zhabotinsky medium or the heart, are capable of supporting excitation waves that circulate in a closed repetitive path--a phenomenon known as reentrant excitation. A single stimulus, depending on its magnitude, timing, and location, can cause a time shift of the reentrant excitation called resetting. The present study examines the ability of resetting data to predict the effects of periodic stimuli on reentrant excitation circulating on an annular domain. We compare the results of the theoretical models with experiments carried out in an animal model of a dangerous reentrant cardiac rhythm. The current work may lead to improved approaches to therapy through a better understanding of how typical clinical stimuli interact with abnormal reentrant cardiac rhythms.