Experimental techniques for investigating cardiac electrical activity and response to electrical stimuli

One of the goals of experimental research in the areas of cardiac electrical activity and effects of stimulation has been to understand basic physiological responses of the heart to electrical stimulation. It is thought that electrical stimulation produces a distribution of current or an electric field in the heart that alters the transmembrane voltages of heart cells. This leads to changes in states of transmembrane voltage-dependent ionic currents, altered electrophysiological behavior of cells, and finally alteration of the electrophysiological behavior of the heart. The research has employed standard electrophysiological measurement techniques and new techniques that have been developed to study specific effects. This paper discusses some of the techniques.