Ionic contrast terahertz time resolved imaging of frog auricular heart muscle electrical activity

The authors demonstrate the direct, noninvasive and time resolved imaging of functional frog auricular fibers by ionic contrast terahertz (ICT) near field microscopy. This technique provides quantitative, time-dependent measurement of ionic flow during auricular muscle electrical activity, and opens the way of direct noninvasive imaging of cardiac activity under stimulation. ICT microscopy technique was associated with full three-dimensional simulation enabling to measure precisely the fiber sizes. This technique coupled to waveguide technology should provide the grounds to development of advanced in vivo ion flux measurement in mammalian hearts, allowing the prediction of heart attack from change in K+ fluxes.