The story behind the image

Professor Andrew C. Rankin’s research image was chosen as the basis for the design for the new BHF credit card. Read on to find out more about the life-saving BHF research behind the image. 

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm). The effects of AF can range from very small to very serious, including increasing the person’s risk of having a stroke.

Professor Rankin comments: "The main aim of our research is to understand why patients have abnormal heart rhythms, and how we can treat them better. We have been able to study the effects of AF and medications on the electrical properties of the cardiac cells.

"Our hearts beat due to a controlled electrical current passing through the heart muscle. This occurs through the flow of calcium ions around the cells.

"Recently we have seen the effects of AF on how the heart cells handle calcium by using fluorescent dyes which change with the calcium concentration – the image on the new BHF credit card shows two cells close together which appear brightly coloured because of the calcium inside them.

"The findings that we have made during these studies over the last 10 years or so have helped our understanding of why these rhythm disturbances can be difficult to treat, because the basic electrical properties of the cells are altered by the arrhythmia. We have seen beneficial effects from a variety of drug treatments, and we have identified some of the factors circulating in the blood which may affect the heart rhythm. Our hope is that the better understanding of the electrical properties of the heart cells will result in the development of better treatments.”

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