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How Broken Waves Become Spirals
- Excitable cardiac waves annihilate when they collide, then leave tissue temporarily refractory.
- A partly recovered region breaks wave symmetry, creating a rotating spiral around a phase singularity.
Six Hundred Students Model A Fibrillating Heart
- Fenton demonstrated fibrillation by arranging 600 Georgia Tech students on a grid.
- A deliberately incomplete activation line produced a spiral, while inconsistent student reactions destabilized it into multiple spirals.
Why Hamlin’s Timing Was Tragically Precise
- Fenton believes Damar Hamlin suffered commotio cordis when a chest impact activated stretch-sensitive cells.
- The blow arrived during the vulnerable end of the ventricular T-wave, making timing as important as force.