Lay summary
Heart failure is one of the most common, costly and deadly diseases, affecting 1-2% of the adult population. Its causes include myocardial infarction and hypertension, and it is directly related to premature death through either electrical or mechanical malfunction.
Ventricular muscle is known to have a complex 3D laminar architecture, which is essential for the large deformations that occur during the normal cardiac cycle. This structure is also known to influence the spread of electrical activity in both normal and abnormal rhythms. A detailed understanding of the 3D myocardial architecture is essential if we are to progress in our understanding of the structure/function relationship.
The host laboratory has an international reputation for their imaging and description of the architecture of the heart. A recent publication in Nature has the potential to advance the imaging quality of datasets in this laboratory. This imaging technique was developed for brain tissue, and the main objective of the summer project will be to develop the technique for cardiac imaging.