EXPERIMENTAL-TECHNIQUES FOR INVESTIGATING CARDIAC ELECTRICAL-ACTIVITYAND RESPONSE TO ELECTRICAL STIMULI

One of the goals of experimental research in the areas of cardiac elec trical activity and effects of stimulation has been to understand basi c physiological responses of the heart to electrical stimulation. It i s thought that electrical stimulation produces a distribution of curre nt or an electric field in the heart that alters the transmembrane vol tages of heart cells. This leads to changes in states of transmembrane voltage-dependent ionic currents, altered electrophysiological behavi or of cells, and finally alteration of the electrophysiological behavi or of the heart. The research has employed standard electrophysiologic al measurement techniques and new techniques that have been developed to study specific effects. This paper discusses some of the techniques .