Unimapper: An Online Interactive Analyzer/Visualizer of Optical Mapping Experimental Data

Area of Science:

• Cardiac electrophysiology research
• Biomedical data visualization and processing

Background:

• Cardiac electrophysiology studies generate complex spatio-temporal data (data cubes).
• Current data sharing methods (movies, graphs) offer limited insight and interactivity.
• A need exists for standardized, interactive tools to explore and share electrophysiology data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Unified Electrophysiology Mapping Framework (Unimapper).
• To facilitate the exchange, processing, and visualization of cardiac electrophysiology data.
• To enhance collaboration among researchers in the field.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web-based platform (Unimapper) utilizing JavaScript utilities.
• Implementation of data import, multi-channel visualization (voltage/calcium mapping), and signal processing functions.
• Optional integration of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for intensive computations.
• Creation of utility libraries for MATLAB, Python, and Julia to ensure data compatibility.

Main Results:

• Unimapper provides interactive data exploration and visualization capabilities.
• The framework supports simultaneous voltage and calcium mapping.
• Standardized data format ensures compatibility across different data sources (experimental, clinical, simulation).
• GPU acceleration enhances performance for computationally demanding tasks.

Conclusions:

• Unimapper serves as a central hub for sharing and analyzing cardiac electrophysiology data.
• The framework promotes better communication and collaboration among researchers.
• Unimapper enhances the accessibility and utility of complex electrophysiology datasets.