Optical recording using voltage-sensitive dyes has been used to investigate the mechanisms of defibrillation because it (1) is immune to the artifacts produced by high-voltage shocks, (2) provides the time course of the membrane action potential, and (3) can be used to make simultaneous recordings at many sites. The authors used the laser scanning technique to optically record action potentials from 100 sites with 1-ms resolution on the surface of the isolated, perfused rabbit heart during defibrillation. The data were typically analyzed by constructing maps of impulse propagation and examining individual recordings from sites of interest.
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