Friday, August 22, 2025

The Cardiac Bidomain Model in Twelve Publications

Recently I wrote a review of the bidomain model of cardiac tissue. Russ Hobbie and I discuss the bidomain model in Section 7.9 of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology. It’s a mathematical description of heart muscle that keeps track of the voltages and currents both inside and outside the myocardial cells. What I wrote is not really an academic review article, it’s not a history, and it’s not a memoir. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what it is. I originally thought I’d try and publish it, but I’m not sure who would accept such an unusual article. So, I decided it would be best to distribute it on my blog. There is little I can do for my dear readers, but I can give them this review.

The format is to describe the bidomain model by considering twelve publications. Below is a list of the articles I chose. Each article is meant to feature one researcher, whose names are listed in bold.

Tung L (1978) A bi-domain model for describing ischemic myocardial dc potentials. PhD Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Plonsey R, Barr RC (1984) Current flow patterns in two-dimensional anisotrpic bisyncytia with normal and extreme conductivities. Biophys J 45:557–571.

Sepulveda NG, Roth BJ, Wikswo JP, Jr (1989) Current injection into a two-dimensional anisotropic bidomain. Biophys J, 55:987-999. 

Henriquez CS, Plonsey R (1990b) Simulation of propagation along a cylindrical bundle of cardiac tissue. II. Results of the simulation. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 37:861–875.

Neu JC, Krassowska W (1993) Homogenization of syncytial tissue. Crit Rev Biomed Eng 21:137–199.

Wikswo JP Jr, Lin SF, Abbas RA (1995) Virtual electrodes in cardiac tissue: A common mechanism for anodal and cathodal stimulation. Biophys J 69:2195–2210.

Trayanova N, Skouibine K, Aguel F (1998) The role of cardiac tissue structure in defibrillation. Chaos 8:221–233.

Knisley SB, Trayanova N, Aguel F (1999) Roles of electric field and fiber structure in cardiac electric stimulation. Biophys J 77:1404–1417.

Efimov IR, Cheng Y, van Wagoner DR, Mazgalev T, Tchou PJ (1998) Virtual electrode-induced phase singularity: A basic mechanism of defibrillation failure. Circ Res 82:918–925.

Entcheva E, Eason J, Efimov IR, Cheng Y, Malkin R, Claydon F (1998) Virtual electrode effects in transvenous defibrillation-modulation by structure and interface: Evidence from bidomain simulations and optical mapping. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 9:949–961.

Rodriguez B, Li L, Eason JC, Efimov IR, Trayanova NA (2005) Differences between left and right ventricular chamber geometry affect cardiac vulnerability to electric shocks. Circ Res 97:168–175.

Bishop MJ, Boyle PM, Plank G, Welsh DG, Vigmond EJ (2010) Modeling the role of the coronary vasculature during external field stimulation. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 57:2335–2345.

My biggest worry is that I’ve left too much out. For instance, I could easily have featured other researchers, such as Rick Gray, Jamey Eason, Roger Barr, Marc Lin, Felipe Aguel, David Geselowitz, and others. Also, I suspect there are many researchers who, if they read this review, will be hurt because they are completely ignored. All I can say is, I’m sorry. I tried to relate the story as best as I can remember it, but I may have remembered some things wrong.

You can download my review here. I hope you enjoy reading the article as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was an honor to work on this topic with so many outstanding scientists. As Randy Travis sings, these scientists are my heroes and friends.

 
 
“Heroes and Friends,” by Randy Travis

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