Optical control of waves in a cardiac excitable medium

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel all-optical method combining dye-free imaging and optogenetics to precisely control wave patterns in cardiac tissue, advancing the study and treatment of bioelectric disorders.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first use of patterned light to control wave direction, speed, and chirality in cardiac tissue, providing a new platform for biological pattern manipulation.

Findings

Optical control of wave direction, speed, and chirality achieved

Dye-free optical imaging combined with optogenetics

Potential for improved therapies for bioelectric disorders

Abstract

In nature, excitable reaction-diffusion systems found in diverse settings (e.g. chemical reactions, metal rust, yeast, amoeba, heart, brain) generate geometrically similar macroscopic waves(1,2). For the heart and brain, the spatiotemporal patterns formed by these excitation waves separate healthy from diseased states(1-3). Current electrical and pharmacological therapies for bioelectric disorders often lack the necessary spatiotemporal precision needed to control these patterns. Optical methodologies have the potential to overcome these limitations, but have only been demonstrated in simple systems, e.g. the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) chemical reaction4. Here we combine novel dye-free optical imaging with optogenetic actuation for dynamic control of cardiac excitation waves. We leverage patterned light to optically control emergent macroscopic properties of cardiac tissue: wave direction, wave speed, and spiral wave chirality. This all-optical approach offers a fundamentally new experimental platform for the study and control of pattern formation in complex biological excitable systems.