title: Unpinning of a spiral wave anchored around a circular obstacle by an external wave train: common aspects of a chemical reaction and cardiomyocyte tissue.
abstract: It is well known that spiral waves are often stabilized by anchoring to a local heterogeneity ("pinning") and that such pinned waves are rather difficult to eliminate. In the present report, we show that pinned spiral waves can be eliminated through collision with a wave train arriving from the outer region, as confirmed in experiments on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction as well as in cardiomyocyte tissue culture. A numerical simulation using the Oregonator, a mathematical model for the BZ reaction, provides the parameter area for successful unpinning. The scenario of unpinning is discussed in terms of the dispersion relation of the wave train by taking into account the curvature effect of the excitation wave.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University and Spatio-temporal Order Project, ICORP JST, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Isomura
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hörning
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitahata
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Agladze
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D008956:Models, Chemical; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000502:physiology*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics