Effect of an externally applied electric field on excitation propagation in the cardiac muscle.

Classical theory of potential distribution in cardiac muscle (cable theory) postulates that all effects of electric field (internally or externally applied) should decay exponentially with a space constant of the order of the tissue space constant ( approximately 1 mm). Classical theory does not take into account the cellular structure of the heart. Here, we formulate a mathematical model of excitation propagation taking into account cellular gap junctions.