For the first time, researchers have mapped spinning spiral waves in the human heart

Electrical signals tell the heart to contract, but when signals form spiral waves, they can lead to dangerous cardiac events such as tachycardia and fibrillation

Flavio Fenton, a professor in the School of Physics, said: "Clinicians knew decades ago that the heart can exhibit spiral wave electrical activity, and researchers have previously experimented

Studying the living hearts of heart transplant patients provides a rare window

The current work is part

Mapped hearts

To create conditions that produce spiral waves, the researchers performed a timed electric shock

"In this way, we can measure changes in light intensity, placing direct changes in calcium and heart cell voltage while seeing calcium and radio waves

Each heart needs a slightly different transplant, so researchers can study spiral wave dynamics

Work with clinicians

The team has been studying heart spiral waves for

Previously, the team had studied the hearts

Fenton said: "We are very fortunate to have this strong collaboration between Emory University and Georgia Tech to carry out these experiments

From a medical point of view, the study was also an eye-opener

"Based on what I saw clinically and what I read, I have a simple view of ventricular fibrillation, but in reality, looking directly at ventricular fibrillation through these experiments gives a different perspective on complexity and their dynamic changes," said Shahriar Iravanian, a cardiologist at Emory University who said

Harvard University A.

Researchers are continuing to work on heart transplants and hope to adapt experiments, not only for basic science, but also to improve treatment

"Due to patient instability and signal complexity, it is difficult to map ventricular fibrillation," said