Electrical link between the fibres of the myocardium and the genesis of the electrocardiogram

The genesis of the e.c.g. is considered in the light of new information on the electrical link between the fibres and electronic anisotropy. In the front of the wave of excitation two dipoles appear: tangential - the total dipole of the independent fibres directed along their axis and radial-produced by currents of the electric link between the fibres. The resultant of these dipoles is not perpendicular to the front but deviates at a certain angle to the normal to the front. The evaluation of the total radial dipole P_r gives the value ≈50 mV·cm² which is about half the semi-empirical solution of the reverse problem of the e.c.g. P_r may significantly determine the e.c.g. The transmural potential U_r is evaluated by a value of the order ≈10 mV from the formula U_r = ΛV σ_rR, where Λ is the distance between the axes of the adjacent fibres; V - amplitude of the action potential; σ_r - conductivity of the tissue across the fibres; R - coupling resistance between the fibres on conversion to unit surface of the adjacent membranes.