The Challenge: Like Reading a Stock Ticker on a Puppy
Imagine trying to read tiny letters on a lively puppy’s fur. Sounds tough, right? Now, think of scientists who face an even trickier problem.
They want to understand the electrical signals in heart cells while the heart is beating. Usually, they have to use drugs to pause the heart’s activity just to get accurate readings.
But this isn’t an ideal solution because the drugs can mess with the natural behavior of the heart cells.
A Smart Fix: Virtual ‘Pause Button’ for the Heart
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have come up with a clever solution. They created a computer program that filters out the ‘noise’ caused by the heart’s constant movement.
So, scientists can now study electrical signals in heart cells as if the heart wasn’t beating, but without actually stopping it. The research, led by Nathaniel Huebsch and Guy Genin, has been published in a respected science journal.
Huebsch explains that the heart’s electrical signals and physical movements are closely linked. Problems arise when they’re not in sync, like in certain heart diseases.
His team’s new technique can study this relationship in real-time without affecting the heart’s natural state.
Why It Matters: New Insights Into Heart Diseases
This new method is more than just a nifty trick. It could provide new insights into heart diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
This condition makes the heart muscle thick and stiff, and it’s a leading cause of sudden death in young people.
Huebsch says that not everyone with the genes for this disease actually develops it. This makes it really hard to decide who needs preventive treatment like a pacemaker.
Plus, if you want to test new drugs for the condition, you need to start early in the disease’s development.
The team used their new computer technique, called virtual blebbistatin, on lab-grown heart tissue. This heart tissue is special because it’s made from cells that can be tailored to each patient.
The researchers were able to compare normal heart tissue with tissue that had been given a gene for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
They found they could remove about 95% of the motion, making it much easier to study the electrical signals in the heart cells.
Looking Forward: What’s Next?
Genin said their new technique has a lot of potential for studying how diseases of the heart progress.
The tool allows researchers to examine how electric signals and physical movements in the heart are connected, which is key to understanding various heart diseases.
With this new technique, scientists have a more accurate and less invasive way to study the heart, which could ultimately lead to better treatments for heart diseases.
So, the next time you see a puppy and marvel at its boundless energy, think of the heart, equally full of life but far more complex.
Thanks to this new research, we’re getting closer to understanding that complexity without disturbing its natural rhythm.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about Some blood pressure treatments may harm heart and kidney health and findings of Statins provide new hope for people with irregular heartbeat to prevent stroke.
For more information about heart disease, please read studies about chronic itch linked to heart disease, and drinking coffee this way may prevent heart disease and stroke.
The research findings can be found in PNAS.
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