Technical advances in studying cardiac electrophysiology - Role of rabbit models

Cardiovascular research has made a major contribution to an unprecedented 10 year increase in life expectancy during the last 50 years: most of this increase due to a decline in mortality from heart disease and stroke. The majority of the basic cardiovascular science discoveries, which have led to this impressive extension of human life, came from investigations conducted in various small and large animal models, ranging from mouse to pig. The small animal models are currently popular because they are amenable to genetic engineering and are relatively inexpensive. The large animal models are favored at the translational stage of the investigation, as they are anatomically and physiologically more proximal to humans, and can be implanted with various devices; however, they are expensive and less amenable to genetic manipulations. With the advent of CRISPR genetic engineering technology and the advances in implantable bioelectronics, the large animal models will continue to advance. The rabbit model is particularly poised to become one of the most popular among the animal models that recapitulate human heart diseases. Here we review an array of the rabbit models of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, as well as a range of the imaging and device technologies enabling these investigations.