Reconstruction of the heart muscle fiber network and conduction system: scaling up to large animal hearts

We propose to determine the three-dimensional (3d) network of muscle fibers in entire large animal hearts using propagation-based phase-contrast tomography. The primary goal is to reconstruct and to analyze the 3d vector field of myofibril orientations in large animal (pig, monkey), and in future ultimately human heart. Building upon our recent studies of small animal (murine) models, we will use an established fiber tracking algorithm which operates on high-resolution reconstructions of the electron density. Furthermore, we will determine the cardiac network of different cell types comprising cardiomyocytes, vessels, fibroblasts and the intrinsic cardiac nervous system.