Examine of electrical conduction processes in blood vessels by cable theory
Electrical conduction processes in the vasculature have traditionally been described using cable theory, i.e., locally induced signals (membrane potential ) decaying passively along the arteriolar wall. The decay is typically quantified using the length-constant, , derived from cable theory. While cable theory provides a useful framework for modeling electrical conduction in biological tissues, its assumptions are often violated in the context of small arteries and arterioles. Arterioles are composed of at least two cell layers: an inner endothelial cell (EC) layer and one or more outer smooth muscle cell (SMC) layers. These layers are connected by myoendothelial gap junctions (MEGJ), allowing electrical signals to pass between them. This work discusses arterioles with two cell layers and studies the change in membrane potential in the EC and SMC layers. The corresponding stationary problems are posed and solved analytically by the method of separation of variables. Numerical modeling of membrane potential propagation is performed using MATLAB software. Visualizations include isopotential contours, 2D and 3D graphs of over space and time, and plots of variation along the vessel and over time.