Expanded web feature: Bright spark brings virtual heart a step
closer Scientists reveal results from European research
initiative Duration: 0:01:52. Video and audio help Peter Kohl
describes how modelling can improve healthcare Video footage of
individual heart cells has revealed a link between cell
structure and the generation of ‘calcium sparks’ that control
the heartbeat at the cellular level. The finding is part of an
international research drive to develop biomedical models to
help improve heart research, diagnosis and, in the long run,
treatment. The coordinated action of billions of cells cause the
chambers of the heart to contract and relax, pumping blood
around the body. But in many heart diseases, synchronisation
between different parts of the heart is disrupted. A good heart:
hard to find It’s not clear where this disruption occurs, or
even if the problem can be pinpointed to a single faulty part.
Because the heart is made up of different types of cell that
combine their actions as tissues, it coul