43 research outputs found
Heart Rhythm Insights Into Structural Remodeling in Atrial Tissue: Timed Automata Approach
The heart rhythm of a person following heart transplantation (HTX) is assumed to display an intrinsic cardiac rhythm because it is significantly less influenced by the autonomic nervous system—the main source of heart rate variability in healthy people. Therefore, such a rhythm provides evidence for arrhythmogenic processes developing, usually silently, in the cardiac tissue. A model is proposed to simulate alterations in the cardiac tissue and to observe the effects of these changes on the resulting heart rhythm. The hybrid automata framework used makes it possible to represent reliably and simulate efficiently both the electrophysiology of a cardiac cell and the tissue organization. The curve fitting method used in the design of the hybrid automaton cycle follows the well-recognized physiological phases of the atrial myocyte membrane excitation. Moreover, knowledge of the complex architecture of the right atrium, the ability of the almost free design of intercellular connections makes the automata approach the only one possible. Two particular aspects are investigated: impairment of the impulse transmission between cells and structural changes in intercellular connections. The first aspect models the observed fatigue of cells due to specific cardiac tissue diseases. The second aspect simulates the increase in collagen deposition with aging. Finally, heart rhythms arising from the model are validated with the sinus heart rhythms recorded in HTX patients. The modulation in the impairment of the impulse transmission between cells reveals qualitatively the abnormally high heart rate variability observed in patients living long after HTX
Multi-command Tactile Brain Computer Interface: A Feasibility Study
The study presented explores the extent to which tactile stimuli delivered to
the ten digits of a BCI-naive subject can serve as a platform for a brain
computer interface (BCI) that could be used in an interactive application such
as robotic vehicle operation. The ten fingertips are used to evoke
somatosensory brain responses, thus defining a tactile brain computer interface
(tBCI). Experimental results on subjects performing online (real-time) tBCI,
using stimuli with a moderately fast inter-stimulus-interval (ISI), provide a
validation of the tBCI prototype, while the feasibility of the concept is
illuminated through information-transfer rates obtained through the case study.Comment: Haptic and Audio Interaction Design 2013, Daejeon, Korea, April
18-19, 2013, 15 pages, 4 figures, The final publication will be available at
link.springer.co
Seven-hour multiunit recordings from rats reveal very long-term correlation in the cortical activity
Critical Scale-invariance in Healthy Human Heart Rate
We demonstrate the robust scale-invariance in the probability density
function (PDF) of detrended healthy human heart rate increments, which is
preserved not only in a quiescent condition, but also in a dynamic state where
the mean level of heart rate is dramatically changing. This scale-independent
and fractal structure is markedly different from the scale-dependent PDF
evolution observed in a turbulent-like, cascade heart rate model. These results
strongly support the view that healthy human heart rate is controlled to
converge continually to a critical state.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Phys. Rev. Lett., to appear (2004