On measuring curvature and electrical diffusion coefficients in anisotropic myocardium: comments on "effects of bipolar point and line simulation in anisotropic rabbit epicardium: assessment of the critical radius of curvature for longitudinal block".

Abstract

Notion of "curvature" and "propagation perpendicular to the activation front" inherited from electrophysiological theory of isotropic reaction-diffusion media do not apply directly to experimental data taken in uniformly anisotropic myocardium. They apply directly only after the concept of "curvature" is normalized and propagation is made to look perpendicular to activation fronts by rescaling distances to achieve isotropy. Without rescaling, the curvature-dependence of longitudinal propagation speed turns out counter-intuitively to measure transverse intercellular electrical coupling.