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In 1852 H.F. Stannius experimented on the heart. By tying a ligature as a constriction between the sinus venosus and the atrium in the frog and also one around the atrioventricular groove, Stannius was able to demonstrate that the muscle tissues of the atria and ventricles have independent and spontaneous rhythms.
His demonstration of the necessity for extracellular calcium to sustain cardiac muscle contraction in the spontaneously beating frog heart was the first to reveal the physiological importance of calcium subsequently discovered for many cellular processes (see e.g. Calcium metabolism, Calcium in biology).
In order to relate the work of the heart to skeletal muscle mechanics, Frank observed changes in diastolic pressure with varying volumes of the frog ventricle. His data was analyzed on a pressure-volume diagram, which resulted in his description of peak isovolumic pressure and its effects on ventricular volume.
An increase in sympathetic stimulation to the heart increases contractility and heart rate. An increase in contractility tends to increase stroke volume and thus a secondary increase in preload. An increase in preload results in an increased force of contraction by Starling's law of the heart; this does not require a change in contractility.
Ringer's solution is named after Sydney Ringer, who in 1882–1885 determined that a solution perfusing a frog's heart must contain sodium, potassium and calcium salts in a definite proportion if the heart is to be kept beating for long.
Blood supply to the heart arises from the aortic root through coronary arteries. Cardioplegia in diastole ensures that the heart does not use up the valuable energy stores (adenosine triphosphate). Blood is commonly added to this solution in varying amounts from 0 to 100%. Blood acts a buffer and also supplies nutrients to the heart during ...
For this work he made use of the anaesthetized dog, in an experimental arrangement known as the heart-lung preparation. [7] This played an important role in subsequent experiments, when he was not primarily interested in blood flow. Starling was unaware of previous work by a German physiologist, Otto Frank, using the isolated frog heart. Frank ...
If the external stimulus is too weak, no response is obtained; if the stimulus is adequate, the heart responds to the best of its ability. Accordingly, the auricles or ventricles behave as a single unit, so that an adequate stimulus normally produces a full contraction of either the auricles or ventricles. The force of the contraction obtained ...