Optical control of excitation waves in cardiac tissue

Optogenetics makes it possible for dynamic patterns of visible light to control the behaviour of excitation waves in heart cells. In nature, macroscopic excitation waves 1 , 2 are found in a diverse range of settings including chemical reactions, metal rust, yeast, amoeba and the heart and brain. In the case of living biological tissue, the spatiotemporal patterns formed by these excitation waves are different in healthy and diseased states 2 , 3 . Current electrical and pharmacological methods for wave modulation lack the spatiotemporal precision needed to control these patterns. Optical methods have the potential to overcome these limitations, but to date have only been demonstrated in simple systems, such as the Belousov–Zhabotinsky chemical reaction 4 . Here, we combine dye-free optical imaging with optogenetic actuation to achieve dynamic control of cardiac excitation waves. Illumination with patterned light is demonstrated to optically control the direction, speed and spiral chirality of such waves in cardiac tissue. This all-optical approach offers a new experimental platform for the study and control of pattern formation in complex biological excitable systems.