Hazim, AzzamBelhamadia, YoussefDubljevic, Stevan2023-09-252023-09-252019-06Hazim, A., Belhamadia, Y., & Dubljevic, S. (2019). Effects of mechano-electrical feedback on the onset of alternans: A computational study. In Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science (Vol. 29, Issue 6). AIP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.50957781089-7682http://hdl.handle.net/11073/25364Cardiac alternans is a heart rhythm instability that is associated with cardiac arrhythmias and may lead to sudden cardiac death. The onset of this instability, which is linked to period-doubling bifurcation and may be a route to chaos, is of particular interest. Mechano-electric feedback depicts the effects of tissue deformation on cardiac excitation. The main effect of mechano-electric feedback is delivered via the so-called stretch-activated ion channels and is caused by stretch-activated currents. Mechano-electric feedback, which is believed to have proarrhythmic and antiarrhythmic effects on cardiac electrophysiology, affects the action potential duration in a manner dependent on cycle length, but the mechanisms by which this occurs remain to be elucidated. In this study, a biophysically detailed electromechanical model of cardiac tissue is employed to show how a stretch-activated current can affect the action potential duration at cellular and tissue levels, illustrating its effects on the onset of alternans. Also, using a two-dimensional iterated map that incorporates stretch-activated current effects, we apply linear stability analysis to study the stability of the bifurcation. We show that alternans bifurcation can be prevented depending on the strength of the stretch-activated current.en-USLinear stability analysisElectrical properties and parametersContinuum mechanicsElectromechanicsMechanical stressMooney-Rivlin solidDiseases and conditionsElectrophysiologyAction potentialCardiac dynamicsArticle10.1063/1.5095778