An Electrical Field Numerical Simulation of Implantable Pacing Electrodes

Abstract

The heart functions normally when the impulses are produced at a rate of 80 bpm. When less than 60 bpm are triggered, pacemakers may be necessary to sustain the electrical activity of the heart. Pacemaker systems used in cardiac resynchronization therapy are made of an implantable pulse generator, leads, and unipolar or bipolar electrodes. They are aimed to simulate the cardiac depolarization, to sense intrinsic cardiac functions, to provide information stored by the system for deeper diagnosis. This paper presents a mathematical model and numerical simulation results on the ionic current distributed by the electrodes, in the absence of concentration gradients, in the cardiac tissue. The external electrical resistance variation with the anode to cathode spacing obtained by this approach may be used in the design phase of the device.