SICM, a high-resolution microscopy technique, has been used by a team of researchers to identify a drug that could one day be used to prevent abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmia.

SICM, which stands for Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy, has a unique capability to perform non-contact high-resolution imaging of soft targets. This capability is being used by researchers around the world to study living cells at a level of detail not previously possible.

“Using new tools, such as SICM, we are just beginning to understand complex biological systems at a new level of detail,” says Chris Moore, CEO of ionscope Ltd.

The microscopy technique developed by ionscope does more than just produce images, it also measures the height of the sample very accurately. Using this information, a number of other techniques can be integrated, as in this case where the height information is used to position a measuring probe with nanometer accuracy. The researchers in this study used this feature to measure the effects of the drug ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) on a particular cell type, the myofibroblast, found in both the foetal heart shortly after birth and in patients who have suffered heart attacks. These cells interfere with how electrical signals travel across the heart and this study demonstrates for the first time that UDCA can prevent arrhythmia by altering the electrical properties of myofibroblasts.

"These findings are exciting because the treatments we have now are largely ineffective at preventing arrhythmia in patients who develop an abnormal heart rhythm after a heart attack," says Dr Julia Gorelik, the study's senior author. "Our results from the lab suggest that UDCA could help the heart muscle conduct electrical signals more normally. We're hoping to set up a clinical trial to test whether these results translate to patients with heart failure.”