Simulation of Cardiac Action Potentials Background Information

The goal of assignments related to this document is to experiment with a numerical simulation of the cardiac action potential. The form of this simulation is just as described in class, using the Hodgkin-Huxley formalism and differential equations to reproduce the currents responsible for the action potential. To simulate the cardiac action potential, it is necessary to expand the number of channels from the simple squid giant axon case, and also to alter the dynamic of these currents compared with the original work of Hodgkin and Huxley. This background section and the Matlab code that you will use is primarily the work of Quan Ni, a former Bioengineering graduate student and now engineer at Guidant Corporation.