Sudden cardiac arrest, a major cause of death around the world, is most frequently caused by ventricular fibrillation, which can be terminated by a brief and intense electric shock. We study nsEP as a new modality to achieve higher efficiency of defibrillation on the first shock along with a profound reduction in the shock energy, minimized side effects, and low probability of reentry arrhythmias. Experiments in Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts (together with C. Zemlin) supported the efficiency and safety of nsEP for defibrillation. We continue with studying mechanisms of excitation and damage of cardiomyocytes by nsEP and compare the effects to conventional (long) pulses.
