Pacemaker Created in Human Ventricle by Depressing Inward-Rectifier K⁺ Current: A Simulation Study

Cardiac conduction disorders are common diseases which cause slow heart rate and syncope. The best way to treat these diseases by now is to implant electronic pacemakers, which, yet, have many disadvantages, such as the limited battery life and infection. Biopacemaker has been expected to replace the electronic devices. Automatic ventricular myocytes (VMs) could show pacemaker activity, which was induced by depressing inward-rectifier K⁺ current (IK1). In this study, a 2D model of human biopacemaker was created from the ventricular endocardial myocytes. We examined the stability of the created biopacemaker and investigated its driving capability by finding the suitable size and spatial distribution of the pacemaker for robust pacing and driving the surrounding quiescent cardiomyocytes. Our results suggest that the rhythm of the pacemaker is similar to that of the single cell at final stable state. The driving force of the biopacemaker is closely related to the pattern of spatial distribution of the pacemaker.