Evaluation of the Influence of the Amplitude of the Second Phase of the Depolarizing Bipolar Half-Sinusoidal Defibrillation Pulse on Its Energy Efficiency

Data obtained by modeling the responses of cardiomyocytes in a state of simulated fi brillation to bipolar depolarizing half-sinusoidal defibrillation pulses with different second-phase relative amplitudes were used to construct plots of the relationship between the proportion of the fi brillation cycle in which the defibrillation pulse caused long-lasting lengthening of the cardiomyocyte refractory period (the defibrillation completeness index) and defibrillation pulse energy. These plots showed that bipolar defibrillation pulses provide greater defibrillation completeness indices at lower energy than monopolar pulses.