A new X-ray technique, hierarchical phase-contrast tomography (HiP-CT), has captured images of the human heart unlike before.
Hailed a game-changer, the technique achieves a full 3D view of the organ that’s around 25 times better than a clinical CT scanner.
Peter Lee, a professor of materials science with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and lead author, said: ‘The atlas that we’ve created in this study is like having Google Earth for the human heart. It allows us to view the whole organ at a global scale, then zoom in to street level to look at cardiovascular features in unprecedented detail.’
The researchers shared the images and a complete analysis in Radiology.
They created two images of the human heart for the study – one from a 63-year-old donor with no known cardiovascular disease and another from an 87-year-old donor with a history of ischemic heart disease, hypertension and atrial fibrillation.
They noted that the hearts had to be donated to obtain this level of detail –the radiation required would be too high for a living person.
Peter Lee explained: ‘It can zoom in to cellular level in selected areas, which is 250 times better, to achieve the same detail as we would through a microscope, but without cutting the sample. Being able to image whole organs like this reveals details and connections that were previously unknown.’
The groups producing these images hope their work can help cardiologists understand how cardiovascular disease and other cardiac conditions impact the human heart.
Co-author Andrew C. Cook, a heart anatomist with University College London, said: ‘We believe that our findings will help researchers understand the onset of cardiac rhythm abnormalities and the efficacy of ablation strategies to cure them explained. For example, we now have a way to determine differences in the thickness of tissue and fat layers between the heart’s outer surface and the protective sac surrounding the heart, which could be relevant when treating arrhythmia.’
The team also noted that more hearts still need to be imaged using this advanced technology and that these initial images represent just the beginning.
Images courtesy of RSNA.
