3D functional and structural imaging of cardiac tissue

描述(申请人提供)：细胞或组织异质性的异常被认为为多种形式的人类心律失常提供了一种机制。该项目的目标是开发将心脏组织形态和传导异质性的结构和功能关系联系起来的技术。这个项目将提供一个增强的观察三维心脏组织内动作电位传导的方法。通过将功能成像与结构成像相结合，可以同时获得动作电位的三维结构成像和深度信息。有了这个新的系统，我们可以检验房室结动作电位速度和形态的异质性是否存在结构性基础的假设。本项目将以新西兰大白兔分离的房室结标本作为模型。其他细胞或组织异质性的模型可以用这个系统成像，以关联心律失常基质中的结构-功能关系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Abnormalities of cellular or tissue heterogeneity are thought to provide a mechanism for many forms of human arrhythmias. The objective of this project is to develop technologies that will correlate the structural and functional relationships of cardiac tissue morphology and conduction heterogeneities. This project will provide an enhancement to viewing the conduction of action potentials within cardiac tissue in three dimensions. By coupling functional imaging with structural imaging, three dimensional structural imaging and depth information of the action potentials can be acquired simultaneously. With this new system, we can test the hypothesis if there is a structural basis for the heterogeneity of action potential velocities and morphology in the AV node. Isolated AV node preparations from New Zealand White Rabbits will be used as a model in this project. Other models of cellular or tissue heterogeneity can be imaged with this system to correlate the structure-function relationship in substrates of arrhythmias.