# Integrated functional and structural mapping for targeting substrates of reentrant atrial fibrillation drivers in the human heart

> **NIH NIH F30** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $38,603

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Atrial fibrillation (AF), a leading cause of stroke, is an increasingly prevalent arrhythmia in the United States
due to an aging population with predisposing conditions (e.g. heart failure, obesity, diabetes, high blood
pressure, etc.). Although, great technological advances have brought AF treatment into an age of personalized
strategies, current therapies still remain insufficient due to a limited understanding of the mechanisms that
drive and maintain AF. Clinical studies currently lack reliable functional and structural mapping approaches
necessary to resolve the detailed course of fast electrical activity during AF as a result of the highly complex
patient-specific 3D structure of the human atria. Therefore, our study aims to improve AF treatment by
revealing the exact electro-anatomical AF substrates seen by both high-resolution ex vivo and in vivo mapping.
Our preliminary data led us to hypothesize that a limited number of patient-specific sustained reentry circuits
through fibrotically-insulated muscular bundles within the 3D atrial wall are responsible for the maintenance of
AF. We will test this hypothesis, directly in explanted human atria, by integrating high resolution simultaneous
endo-epicardial and panoramic optical mapping, clinical multi-electrode mapping, and 3D structural contrast-
enhanced MRI to define the spatiotemporal and structural substrates of AF drivers in the human atria.
Furthermore, we will determine the feasibility of integrating functional and structural mapping to improve
targeted AF driver ablation in patients. Accurately defining the specific atrial functional-structural substrates of
AF drivers by integrating functional and structural mapping will allow a highly efficient, personalized treatment
for AF ablation. This translational research is a critical step toward the development of new patient-specific
therapies whereby AF drivers can be accurately defined, targeted, and successfully treated to cure the most
common arrhythmia in the United States.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9988494
- **Project number:** 5F30HL142179-03
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Brian J. Hansen
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $38,603
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-21 → 2022-08-20

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9988494

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9988494, Integrated functional and structural mapping for targeting substrates of reentrant atrial fibrillation drivers in the human heart (5F30HL142179-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9988494. Licensed CC0.

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