Monolayers of embryonic heart cells have been constructed in a variety of different geometries including disks, annuli and geometries with isthmuses. We frequently observe complex patterns of excitation including pacemakers, rotors, and reentrant waves around an anatomical obstacle. Simulations of simplified mathematical models of these systems allow us to highlight factors leading to reentry including heterogeneity of the medium, geometry of the medium, conduction times in different reentrant loops. This work has identified two new mechanisms leading to anatomical reentry. We have also been interested in developing algorithms to map rotors. Especially as the spatial resolution decreases, false positives and and false negatives may lead to erroneous conclusions about the underlying dynamics. I will summarize recent results from our group contained in the papers:

L. Campanari, M. J. You, P. Langfield, L. Glass, A. Shrier. Varieties of reentrant dynamics. Chaos 27, 04111 (2017).

M. J. You, P. Langfield, L. Campanari, M. Dobbs, A. Shrier, L. Glass. Demonstration of cardiac rotor and source mapping techniques in embryonic chick monolayers. Chaos 27, 093938 (2017).

This is joint work with L. Campanari, M. J. You, P. Langfield, M. Dobbs, A. Shrier. We thank Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, NSERC and CIHR for financial support.