Visualization of Cardiac Currents

Dr. Bruno Taccardi

Dr. Bruno Taccardi has been a collaborator of the Center since its inception and throughout this time has provided generous access to his enormous archive of detailed measurements of cardiac electrophysiology. More importantly, his needs for visualizing, analyzing, and simulating electrophysiological activity have driven many aspects of the Center's research and development. Dr. Taccardi has used both BioPSE and map3d in his research.

Dr. Taccardi will continue to collaborate with the Center, especially in the use of forward problem simulation and visualization to understand the nature of cardiac currents. We have recently been able to provide Dr. Taccardi with the tools that allow him to create detailed three-dimensional images of the flow of current during all phases of the cardiac cycle throughout the volume conductor, which in humans is the thorax and in Dr. Taccardi's experiments is a torso-shaped electrolytic tank in which he and his group suspend an isolated, perfused dog heart. Dr. Taccardi would like to use these tools to investigate data from past experiments in which he applied a wide range of interventions in order to understand the essential biophysics of electrocardiography under normal and pathophysiological conditions. Success in this research would further both the understanding of mechanisms of cardiac activation and recovery and also the use of electrocardiography and cardiac mapping in clinical settings.

Dr. Taccardi is one of the leading experts in cardiac electrophysiology in the world. Trained in medicine (cardiology) and with two PhD's, Dr. Taccardi has over 30 years of experience in experimental and simulation studies dedicated to understanding the fundamental electrical behavior of the heart in healthy and diseased states. Dr. Taccardi is a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Caen, France, winner of the gold medal of the President of the Italian Republic for scientific merit and the Professor Pierre Rijlant Triennial Prize for Cardiac Electrophysiology Brussels, and a member of both the Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere and the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium. Dr. Taccardi's invention of the endocardial electrode that permitted measurements within the chambers of the heart is the essential technology of a highly successful company producing such systems for clinical use throughout the world. Dr. Taccardi's research is supported through two grants from the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, which has contributed to his program for the past 20 years.