Distributed Pacemaker Control
Distributed control provides robustness (no single point of failure), autonomy (operates without continuous commands), local responsiveness, and natural scalability.
If the SA node fails entirely, backup pacemaker cells in the AV node can take over - this redundancy makes the heart remarkably fault-tolerant.
The heart's rhythmic beating arises from distributed control. The heart contains specialized pacemaker cells - primarily in the sinoatrial (SA) node - that spontaneously generate rhythmic electrical signals. These cells have ion channels that periodically depolarize the membrane, triggering action potentials that propagate to adjacent cardiac muscle cells. The heart's intrinsic rhythm persists without nervous system input - during transplantation, hearts spontaneously resume beating when rewarmed despite having no nervous connections.
Business Application of Distributed Pacemaker Control
Distributed control provides robustness (no single point of failure), autonomy (operates without continuous commands), local responsiveness, and natural scalability. Limitations include limited coordination capability, no strategic flexibility, and difficulty in override.