A heart attack leaves more than emotional scars. It also leaves physical scars inside the heart that can change the way the heart beats for the rest of a person’s life.
Understanding these hidden changes has been difficult because scientists have not been able to view heart damage and electrical activity together in enough detail.
Researchers from George Washington University have now created a new imaging system that brings these two pieces of information together. Their study, published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, provides one of the clearest views yet of how scar tissue affects the heartbeat.
The heart relies on tiny electrical signals to keep its pumping action regular. After a heart attack, healthy muscle is replaced by scar tissue that cannot carry these signals normally. As a result, the electrical waves may slow down, change direction, or become blocked completely.
The new imaging platform combines hyperspectral imaging with optical mapping. Hyperspectral imaging identifies different tissues by studying how they reflect light, while optical mapping follows electrical signals as they spread across the heart muscle. Together they provide a detailed picture of both heart structure and heart function.
The researchers designed a system with six cameras working at the same time. Some cameras measured electrical activity, another collected detailed information about tissue composition, and another produced a three-dimensional model of the heart. Advanced software merged the images into a single panoramic map.
The team tested the technology using rat hearts that had experienced heart attacks four weeks earlier. The hearts were maintained in a laboratory system that allowed them to keep beating while detailed measurements were collected.
The scans showed that scar tissue contained much higher levels of collagen than healthy muscle. This made it possible to separate healthy tissue, scar tissue, and the important border zone where many electrical problems begin.
When the researchers compared the tissue images with the electrical maps, they found that abnormal electrical beats frequently started near the edge of the scar. Signals often traveled around damaged areas instead of passing directly through them, creating pathways that may trigger dangerous arrhythmias.
The study also showed that electrical signals remained active longer in scar tissue than in healthy muscle. The border region behaved somewhere between the two, confirming that it has unique electrical properties that may increase the risk of rhythm disorders.
This new technology gives scientists a much better tool for studying how heart attacks, fibrosis, aging, and other diseases change the heart over time. Although more research is needed before it can be used in patients, the system could eventually improve the understanding, prevention, and treatment of life-threatening heart rhythm disorders.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that Vitamin D deficiency can increase heart disease risk, and results showing Zinc and vitamin B6 linked to lower death risk in heart disease.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about more coffee linked to heart rhythm disease, and results showing Zinc and vitamin B6 linked to lower death risk in heart disease.
Source: George Washington University.
