\ Projects \ Cardiac Tissue Structure

With the aid of Wellcome Trust funding an imaging instrument was developed that allows reconstruction of the three- dimensional structure of blocks of myocardium down to 0.25um resolution. The rig, consisting of a precision mill, a confocal microscope and a highly precise translation stage is illustrated.

Using the imaging device, blocks of tissue taken from the left ventricle of a rat heart are digitally reconstructed. Image segmentation is used to extract the collagen density and orientation from the 3D confocal reconstructions and to extract the organization of myocytes within sheets.



 
 

These data are being used to develop models of current flow around the fibrous-sheet structure in order to compute the conductivity tensors needed for whole organ modelling of myocardial activation and reentrant arrhythmias. The information on collagen organization in relation to the myocytes is being used to understand the mechanical properties of the tissue and to formulate microstructural models that link to tissue constitutive models used in modeling the large deformation mechanics of the intact heart.

With an extension of the preparation protocol, the same confocal instrument can also be used to reconstruct the detailed microvasculature, including all the capillaries, within the myocardium. These images are segmented to generate vascular meshes to provide a detailed model of whole heart perfusion.