In a proof-of-concept study, scientists at Johns Hopkins report they have successfully performed 3D personalized virtual simulations of the heart to accurately identify where cardiac specialists should electrically destroy cardiac tissue to stop potentially fatal irregular and rapid heartbeats in patients with scarring in the heart. The retrospective analysis of 21 patients and prospective study of 5 patients with ventricular tachycardia, the researchers say, demonstrate that 3D simulation-guided procedures are worthy of expanded clinical trials.

Results of the study are described in the Sept. 3 issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering.

“Cardiac ablation, or the destruction of tissue to stop errant electrical impulses, has been somewhat successful but hampered by a lot of guesswork and variability in the way that physicians figure out which locations to zap with a catheter,” says Natalia Trayanova, PhD, the Murray B. Sachs Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University Schools of Engineering and Medicine. “Our new study results suggest we can remove a lot of the guesswork, standardize treatment, and decrease the variability in outcomes, so that patients remain free of arrhythmia in the long-term,” she adds… Continue reading.