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Updated: May 7, 2026
In Silico Clinical Trials for Cardiovascular Disease
Published on: May 27, 2022
High-resolution 3D visualization of human hearts with emphases on the cardiac conduction system components-a new
Weixuan Chen1, Marcin Kuniewicz1,2, Abimbola J Aminu1
1Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Insights
Digitized cardiac anatomy reveals significant changes in myocardial infarction (MI) hearts, including altered conduction system structures. These high-resolution 3D models aid in understanding heart disease and developing new simulations and visualizations.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Anatomy
- Medical Imaging
- Computational Biology
Background:
- High-resolution cardiac anatomical data is crucial for understanding disease pathology like myocardial infarction (MI).
- Previous research has focused on healthy, aged, and obese hearts, leaving MI hearts underexplored.
- Advancements in imaging have improved cardiovascular anatomy understanding, especially the cardiac conduction system (CCS).
Purpose of the Study:
- To create high-resolution 3D digitized anatomical datasets of human hearts with myocardial infarction.
- To explore and characterize the anatomical changes in the cardiac conduction system (CCS) within MI hearts.
- To assess the potential applications of these datasets in clinical research, education, and computational simulations.
Main Methods:
- Acquisition of five post-mortem human hearts (non-MI and MI) with ethical approval.
- Contrast-enhanced micro-CT scanning for high-resolution imaging.
- 3D reconstruction and segmentation using Amira software to visualize cardiovascular structures and the CCS.
Main Results:
- Identified diverse macro-/micro- anatomical changes in MI hearts, including thickened valve leaflets and altered muscle/fiber thicknesses.
- Observed thinner left bundle branches, sinoatrial nodal atrophy, and atrioventricular conduction axis fragmentation.
- Demonstrated potential for simulating impulse propagation and 3D printing from reconstructed models.
Conclusions:
- High-resolution digitized cardiac anatomical datasets of MI hearts provide novel insights into disease-related structural alterations.
- These datasets are valuable for medical education, clinical applications, and advanced computational simulations.
- Further research using these models can enhance understanding of heart failure mechanisms and treatment strategies.
Introduction:
High-resolution digitized cardiac anatomical data sets are in huge demand in clinical, basic research and computational settings. They can be leveraged to evaluate intricate anatomical and structural changes in disease pathology, such as myocardial infarction (MI), which is one of the most common causes of heart failure and death. Advancements in high-resolution imaging and anatomical techniques in this field and our laboratory have led to vast improvements in understanding cardiovascular anatomy, especially the cardiac conduction system (CCS) responsible for the electricity of the heart, in healthy/aged/obese post-mortem human hearts. However, the digitized anatomy of the electrical system of the heart within MI hearts remains unexplored.
Methods:
Five post-mortem non-MI and MI human hearts were obtained by the Visible Heart® Laboratories via LifeSource, Minneapolis, MN, United States (with appropriate ethics and consent): specimens were then transported to Manchester University with an material transfer agreement in place and stored under the HTA 2004, UK. After performing contrast-enhanced micro-CT, a visualization tool (namely Amira) was used for 3D high-resolution anatomical visualizations and reconstruction. Various cardiovascular structures were segmented based on the attenuation difference of micro-CT scans and tissue traceability. The relationship between the CCS and surrounding tissues in MI and non-MI human hearts was obtained. 3D anatomical models were further explored for their use in computational simulations, 3D printing and mix/virtual reality visualization.
Results:
3D segmented cardiovascular structures in the MI hearts elicited diverse macro-/micro- anatomical changes. The key findings are thickened valve leaflets, formation of new coronary arteries, increased or reduced thicknesses of pectinate and papillary muscles and Purkinje fibers, thinner left bundle branches, sinoatrial nodal atrophy, atrioventricular conduction axis fragmentation, and increased epicardial fat in some hearts. The propagation of the excitation impulses can be simulated, and 3D printing can be utilized from the reconstructed and segmented structures.
Discussion:
High-resolution digitized cardiac anatomical datasets offer exciting new tools for medical education, clinical applications, and computational simulation.
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