Virtual heart provides insight into atrial fibrillation

Researchers at the School of Physics and Astronomy built an advanced computational model of an anatomically correct sheep’s heart. It was made by taking a series of very thin slices of the heart, imaging them in 2D and then using a computer program to render them into a 3D model.

The reconstruction is said to include details of the complex fibre structure of the tissue, and the segmentation of the upper chambers of the heart into known distinctive atrial regions.

Single-cell models that take into account information about the electrical activity in different atrial parts of the heart were then incorporated into the model. The virtual heart was then used to investigate the condition atrial fibrillation (AF).

Research leader Prof Henggui Zhang said: ‘AF affects approximately 1.5 per cent of the world’s population. In the UK more than 500,000 patients have been diagnosed with the condition, which causes an irregular heart rate. It is also known to increase the risk and severity of stroke. Despite its prevalence very little is known about what causes AF.’