Imaging of cardiac structure

By combining optical clearing with confocal microscopy, we can reconstruct the fiber architecture of myocardium in unprecedented detail. During optical clearing, the water in the tissue is replaced first with ethanol and then with benzyl alcohol benzyl benzoate (BABB), a transparent organic liquid whose refractive index matches that of the solid tissue components (n~1.56). In this way, light scattering is largely eliminated and the tissue becomes transparent (see figure below).