J Physiol Volume 580, Number 1, 15-22, April 1, 2007 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2006.119370
Hodgkin–Huxley–Katz Prize Lecture |
From the Hodgkin–Huxley axon to the virtual heart
Denis Noble1
1 Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK
Experimentally based models of the heart have been developed since 1960, starting with the discovery and modelling of potassium channels. The early models were based on extensions of the Hodgkin–Huxley nerve impulse equations. The first models including calcium balance and signalling were made in the 1980s and have now reached a high degree of physiological detail. During the 1990s these cell models have been incorporated into anatomically detailed tissue and organ models to create the first virtual organ, the Virtual Heart. With over 40 years of interaction between simulation and experiment, the models are now sufficiently refined to begin to be of use in drug development.
(Received 16 August 2006;
accepted after revision 27 September 2006;
first published online 28 September 2006)
Corresponding author D. Noble: Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK. Email: denis.noble{at}physiol.ox.ac.uk
This article is based on the Hodgkin–Huxley–Katz Prize Lecture delivered to the Physiological Society in October 2004.
Copyright © 2007 The Physiological Society.
