A MULTICHANNEL FIBER-OPTIC MAPPING SYSTEM FOR INTRAMURAL RECORDING OF CARDIAC ACTION POTENTIALS

Measuring cardiac action potentials at many sites within the ventricular wall is important for understanding cardiac arrhythmias; however, recording in the depth of the heart wall presents many difficulties. We have developed a multichannel optical mapping system for recording cardiac action potentials transmurally. Each channel uses a single small-diameter optical fiber to transmit and collect light from the cardiac tissue. Excitation light is supplied by low-power green lasers. Wavelength separation is performed with a dichroic mirror, and fluorescence is detected with a photodiode. We have recorded action potentials with an unfiltered signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as high as 60:1 and a temporally filtered SNR as high as 200:1. The collection of fluorescence is optimized so that low excitation light intensity can be used, which increases the available recording time. Channels are modular and compact, and the system can be easily expanded to include additional channels, ratiometry or dual-dye mapping. In addition, the system is highly flexible and can be used for virtually any experiment from single cell recording to surface and transmural mapping of the whole heart.