Cardiac action potential that originates from the sinoatrial node is propagated via the His-Purkinje network, the fastest conduction pathway within the heart. The electrical signal travels from the sinoatrial node (SAN), which stimulates the atria to contract, to the atrioventricular node (AVN) which slows down conduction of the action potential, from the atria to the ventricles. This delay allows the ventricles to fully fill with blood before contraction. The signal then passes down through a bundle of fibres called the bundle of His, located between the ventricles, and then to the purkinje fibers at the bottom (apex) of the heart, causing ventricular contraction.
Longitude of the ascending node it is not possible to tell which node is ascending and which is descending. In this case the orbital parameter which is recorded is the longitude of the node, Ω, which is the longitude of whichever node has a longitude between 0 and 180 degrees. In astrodynamics, the longitude of the ascending node can be calculated from the specific relative angular momentum vector h as follows: Here, n=<"n", "n", "n"> is a vector pointing towards the ascending node. The reference plane is assumed to be the "xy"-plane, and the origin of longitude is taken to be the positive "x"-axis. k