Probing Small Animal Models for Pathogenesis of Cardiac Arrhythmias Using Optical Mapping

This chapter offers an overview of optical mapping concepts and provides details related to various applications of this technique to visualize the normal and abnormal rhythms of the heart. It enables high-resolution visualization of activation propagation and determination of relative conduction velocity of the electrical activity of the heart. Optical mapping can be used to assess action potential duration at various levels of repolarization, thus offering insights into the underlying cardiac cellular electrophysiology. Furthermore, optical mapping can be utilized to investigate the pathogenesis of different types of cardiac arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, and this technique has been widely employed to visualize, predict, and control the onset of abnormal cardiac rhythms such as alternans. Optical mapping can also be beneficial in studying acute changes in cardiac electrophysiological properties during various disease states and is an excellent investigational tool for the experimental development and evaluation of cardiovascular therapeutic strategies.