Spiral waves in phase-coupled excitable media
Some cardiac arrhythmias occur when the collective motion of cells in excitable tissues in the heart deviates from the normal and healthy regime. These pathological movements are usually related to the spontaneous appearance of spiral waves on the ventricle.
We use many Kuramoto-type phase-coupled oscillators to represent excitable media capable of convey signals and support plane and spiral waves.
The figure below shows a spiral wave on a 2D lattice made of both, excitable and dead cells. Currently we study the effect of diversity and excitability on the spiral waves.
1. E. Avalos, P. Y. Lai and C. K. Chan, Zero refractoriness spirals in phase-coupled excitable media, Phys. Rev. E 80, 065202 (2009). [Link]
2. E. Avalos, C. K. Chan and P. Y. Lai, Spiral waves in the heterogeneous excitable Kuramoto model, EPL, 94, 60006 (2011). [Link]
