Overdrive Pacing of 2D Coupled Spiral Waves

Spiral waves can occur in excitable media, including cardiac tissue, and can be single or coupled; the latter have not been studied enough so far. The present paper explores the interaction between coupled spiral waves and plane wave trains emitted from electrodes with a constant period in a two-variable model of an excitable medium. The emission is aimed to terminate the spiral-wave activity in the medium by making the spiral waves drift. Our results show that the pacing can terminate coupled spirals in two ways, by separate annihilation at the domain boundary, or by mutual collision. The effective pacing periods were found to be the same for both single spirals and coupled spirals. We measure the drift velocities and propose a new visualization method using polygon to show the oblique angles of the induced drift trajectories and the drift speed depending on the pacing period. Future research may include simulations with ionic cell-level models and whole heart models.