Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The human heart depends on coordinated muscular, electrical, vascular, lymphatic, and neural systems, but their three-dimensional relationships remain unresolved at microscopic resolution across an intact adult organ. Using hierarchical phase-contrast tomography, we generated a continuous three-dimensional structural reference of a whole adult human heart at 8.01 micrometer isotropic voxel size, without sectioning or staining. Organ-wide imaging revealed hierarchical myocardial architecture, and quantitative orientation analysis identified regional differences in myocardial cell aggregate organization. The atrioventricular conduction axis was traced into a distinct subendocardial Purkinje network interfacing with working myocardium. Integrated segmentation showed that coronary vessels, lymphatic collectors, and autonomic nerves occupy shared epicardial corridors. This publicly accessible dataset integrates cardiac systems within a common spatial framework for anatomy, computational modeling, and future molecular atlases.
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Royal Academy of Engineering, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Medical Research Council
Awards: Imaging dynamics in biophysical/biochemical processes across the hierarchical scales (BioPro Network), G2259944664, G2947732725, G339059223, Computer-based analysis of early fibrosing lung disease, Enhancing the characterisation of early respiratory disease to improve population health, G7193505718, Organ-Cell-Molecular Imaging (OCMI): Integrating Human Heart Bioimaging Across Scales Using Foundation Models, Enhancing the characterisation of early respiratory disease to improve population health, Organ-Cell-Molecular Imaging (OCMI): Integrating Human Heart Bioimaging Across Scales Using Foundation Models, Computer-based analysis of early fibrosing lung disease
OpenAlex ID: W7213458570