Identification of left ventricular model parameters

Simulations with a model of left ventricular pressure generation consisting of time-varying elastance, resistance, series-elastance, and deactivation were fitted to pressure curves measured in the isolated rabbit ventricle. For constant ejection flows, a fit with a RMS error of 2.78 mmHg was obtained provided that deactivation was actually incorporated in the model. Deactivation was assumed to depend linearly on end ejection pressure. Resistance was found to be independent of volum

Left ventricular active stiffness: dependency on time and inotropic state

Left ventricular systolic stiffness was measured by rapidly changing ventricular volume (within 7 ms) of isovolumically contracting isolated rabbit hearts. Instantaneous pressure-volume relations were found to be linear with slopes that depended upon the moment during contraction at which the volume change was induced. These slopes were proportional to the total pressure developed in the ventricle just prior to the volume change. The same was found when the time course of pressure was influenced by changing the Ca++ content of the perfusate. An influence, however, also could be detected when end-diastolic volume was changed. At the same pre-release pressure a greater volume caused a decrease of active stiffness. The results indicate the possiblity of an active component in ventricular systolic stiffness

Left ventricular force-velocity relations measured from quick volume changes

Left ventricles of rabbit hearts were subjected to series of quick volume releases (QVR) — taking placw within 6 ms — applied at fixed times in the cardiac cycle. The hearts were paced artificially and allowed to contract isovolumically. The QVR was used as a tool for realizing predetermined pressure values at any time during the ascending limb of the intra-ventricular pressure curve. Any desired pressure could be attained by suitable choice of the QVR amplitude. By relatingdP/dt values occuring immediately after the QVR to the pressure attained by the QVR for different QVR amplitudes, instantaneousdP/dt relations were obtained. Time effects on these relations were studied by repeating the QVR series with increasing amplitudes at different but constant times. Influences of volume and contractile state were examined by varying end diastolic pressure (EDP) and the perfusate [Ca2+]. The data were fitted with adP/dt-P relation derived from the Hill equation using a simple geometric model of the ventricle and a two element model of the myocardium. The experimental relations were described adequately by the model. The parameters in the Hill equation estimated for heart muscle were compared to those previously reported on heart muscle experiments. Parameter values obtained were:a/F0: 0.001–1.3;F0 (mean maximal force forVCE=0): 12.2-3.5 N;b: 1.7–13.2 cm/s.F0 rises at the beginning of systole and shows a plateau from ca. 60–100% time of peak pressure. This time course was influenced by changes in EDP and [Ca2+]. Parameterb exhibits a time course comparable to that of ventricular pressure. It was not influenced by EDP changes and only slightly increased by an increase in [Ca2+]

Deactivation in the rabbit left ventricle induced by constant ejection flow

A study of pressure generated by the left ventricle after ejection with constant flow for different values of the ejection flow, flow duration, time of flow arrest, and ventricular volume is discussed. It was found that pressure after ejection, normalized with respect to isovolumic pressure, is regenerated according to a model consisting of an elastance, a resistance, a series elastance, and an additional deactivation component. Deactivation is defined as the difference between the value 1 and the plateau value of the normalized pressure after constant flow ejection. It is shown that this plateau value is constant after constant flow ejection until the minimum in isovolumic dP/dt, i.e. during physiological systole. The plateau value is uniquely related to the value of the normalized pressure with a time constant of 10.44±0.09 ms which agrees with the series-elastance time constant of 10.35±0.26 m

Analysis of current density and related parameters in spinal cord stimulation

A volume conductor model of the spinal cord and surrounding anatomical structures is used to calculate current (and current density) charge per pulse, and maximum charge density per pulse at the contact surface of the electrode in the dorsal epidural space, in the dorsal columns of the spinal cord and in the dorsal roots. The effects of various contact configurations (mono-, bi-, and tripole), contact area and spacing, pulsewidth and distance between contacts and spinal cord on these electrical parameters were investigated under conditions similar to those in clinical spinal cord stimulation. At the threshold stimulus of a large dorsal column fiber, current density and charge density per pulse at the contact surface were found to be highest (1.9·105 ¿A/cm2 and 39.1 ¿C/cm2 ·p, respectively) when the contact surface was only 0.7 mm 2. When stimulating with a pulse of 500 ¿s, highest charge per pulse (0.92 ¿C/p), and the largest charge density per pulse in the dorsal columns (1.59 ¿C/cm2·p) occurred. It is concluded that of all stimulation parameters that can be selected freely, only pulsewidth affects the charge and charge density per pulse in the nervous tissue, whereas both pulsewidth and contact area strongly affect these parameters in the nonnervous tissue neighboring the electrode contact

Intraneural stimulation using wire-microelectrode arrays: analysis of force steps in recruitment curves

In acute experiments on six Wistar rats, a wire-microelectrode array was inserted into the common peroneal nerve. A 5-channel array and a 24-channel array were available. Each electrode in the array was used to generate a twitch contraction force recruitment curve for the extensor digitorum longus muscle. We constructed a histogram of the pooled force steps in all recruitment curves. From a comparison of this experimental histogram with one estimated from literature data, we found that the force steps encountered in our experiments are in the same range as those from the literature-based estimated distribution. Discrepancies between the experimental and the literature-based histogram might be ascribed to an approximation used in the estimated distribution. We conclude that force step histograms appear to provide a simple means for estimating motor unit twitch force distributions, and thus are of value in studies of intraneural selective stimulatio

Endoneural selective stimulating using wire-microelectrode arrays

In acute experiments eight 5- to 24-wire-microelectrode arrays were inserted into the common peroneal nerve of the rat, to investigate whether the electrodes could selectively stimulate motor units of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle. Twitch-force-recruitment curves were measured from the EDL for each array electrode. The curves were plotted on a double-logarithmic scale and parameterized by the low-force slope (which represents the power p in the power-law relationship of force F versus stimulus current I, or F~Ip) and the threshold current. The slopes and threshold currents measured with array electrodes did not differ significantly from those obtained with randomly inserted single wire-microelectrodes. This indicates that, although involving a more invasive insertion procedure, electrode arrays provide neural contacts with low-force recruitment properties similar to those of single wires. Array results revealed partial blocking of neural conduction, similar to that reported with microneurographic insertion with single needles. The efficiency of the array was defined as the fraction of array electrodes selectively contacting a motor unit and evoking the corresponding threshold force. Efficiency thus expresses the practical value of the used electrode array in terms of the total number of distinct threshold forces that can be stimulated by selecting the appropriate electrodes. The eight arrays were capable of evoking threshold forces selectively with an average efficiency of 0.81 (or 81%

Simulation of intrafascicular and extraneural nerve stimulation

A model of nerve stimulation for control of muscle contraction and ensuing isometrical muscle force has been developed and implemented in a simulation algorithm. A description of nerve fiber excitation was obtained using probability distributions of a number of excitation parameters. The volume conduction model of the stimulated nerve incorporates both inhomogeneities and anisotropy within the nerve. The nerve geometry was assumed to be cylindrically symmetric. The model of the nerve fiber excitation mechanism was based on that of D.R. McNeal (1976), using the Frankenhaeuser-Huxley equations. Simulations showed that the diameter dependence of nerve fiber recruitment is influenced by the electrode geometr