Making the Invisible Visible to Improve Heart Surgery Outcomes

A researcher at Stanford has developed a method to visually identify the cardiac conduction system during surgery in order to avoid harm during cardiac surgery. To do this, antibodies are bound to surface markers on cardiac conduction cells and can be seen with infrared light. This is especially helpful for patients with congenital heart defects, as the anatomical landmarks that surgeons normally follow to avoid the cardiac conduction system may be different. The team hopes to launch a clinical trial in humans in a few years.