Release date: 2010-08-26
For the first time, American scientists used a laser beam to control the beating of the heart. This discovery opened a new page for human exploration of the mystery of the heart, and made it possible to introduce a light-controlled cardiac pacemaker.
Ordinary cardiac pacemakers stimulate the cardiomyocytes through weak pulse currents to adjust the rhythm of the heartbeat. As early as 1967, shortly after the introduction of electrical signal pacers, scientists discovered that light can increase the frequency of heart beating, but because of the limitations of conditions, people still do not know how to control it. Until 2008, a Japanese research team used a near-infrared laser beam to successfully control the pulsation of a group of isolated cardiomyocytes. But so far, no one has been able to control the entire heart.
But one person has not given up. Michael Jenkins is a biomedical engineer at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. After reading the 1967 findings, he decided to continue the experiment. He and his colleagues used a laser beam to illuminate some of the live embryos of the scorpion. These embryos are only 2 to 3 days old, and their heart volume is only 2 cubic millimeters, which is much larger than a group of cardiomyocytes. It is a very suitable experimental material.
A miracle has appeared. Jenkins found that the embryo's heartbeat was synchronized with the laser's pulse frequency. The researchers tried to adjust the pulse frequency, starting from 2 to 3 times per second, and then gradually slowing down, but the result is still the same, the pulse frequency changes even up to 50%. Jenkins' research team published the results in the August 15 issue of Nature-Photonics.
The team then tested the lasers of different energies to find the safest and most effective bundle. The results showed that a 0.8 joule/cm 2 laser did not cause damage to the heart; when the energy was increased five times, the tested cardiomyocytes were scorched.
Jenkins said that although long-term observational experiments are needed to determine whether these cardiomyocytes are really unscathed, the results of this time are undoubtedly significant. "We want to know how congenital heart disease is formed, and we want to know how the heart beat frequency changes step by step," Jenkins said. "We want to use a non-invasive means to treat heart disease." Osaka University, Japan Biophysicist Nicholas Smith, the first person to use lasers to control cardiomyocytes, said Jenkins' research was a major breakthrough. "I am very happy to see this progress. This is the first time in the world to use lasers to regulate the whole heart. If this research can go deeper, people will find that there are still many things that lasers can do."
Smith said that if the above problems can be solved and the heart can be protected from damage, the laser is likely to be used in clinical treatments, such as heart surgery or pacemaker transplantation.
Source: Kexun
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