This theoretical model demonstrates that high-frequency oscillatory fields can dynamically suppress spiral wave rotors in cardiac tissue, offering a potential framework for novel arrhythmia control strategies.
This work presents a theoretical framework for the dynamical suppression of spiral wave activity in excitable media under high-frequency parametric driving. Modeling cardiac tissue as a nonlinear reaction-diffusion system, we analyze the effect of a fast, zero-mean oscillatory field using Floquet averaging techniques. We show that high-frequency driving introduces a Kapitza-like correction to the cubic nonlinearity governing excitability, effectively reducing the responsiveness of the medium and increasing the activation threshold. This parametric modification alters the conditions required for spiral wave stability, leading to drift and destabilization of rotor structures. The model predicts a crossover from sustained spiral-wave activity to a dynamically suppressed regime under sufficiently strong driving. This work provides a physically motivated theoretical framework for the control of spatio-temporal patterns in excitable media, with particular relevance to mathematical models of biological systems.
Claudia Attaianese (Tue,) studied this question.