By virtue of analogy of the equations governing the BZ-reaction and heart
muscle, splitting of BZ-waves using light pulses corresponds to splitting
of waves in the heart muscle using pulses of electrical current.
Splitting of spirals causes their annihilation. Experimental splitting is shown in the following figure for the BZ-reaction. It corresponds to annihilation of tachycardia in heart muscle.
Turbulent chemical waves can be annihilated by a finite number of light pulses. This corresponds to annihilation of heart fibrillation by a finite number of pulses of electrical current.
Experimental annihilation of turbulent chemical waves by light-induced wave-splitting in a coarse-grained medium:
Analogous experimental process in a medium with turbulence induced by a methnol gradient:
The following figure shows the mean total time <Td> for annihilation vs. the distance T between pulses. A finite number of peaks is sufficient at the right of the vertical dashed line. The minimum indicates optimal cardiological operation:
