MyME – Myocardial metabolism and exercise

The function of the heart muscle (myocardium) is crucial for everyday activities in the human body as well as for athletic performance. The heart’s pumping capacity affects, among other things, how much oxygen can be transported to working muscles, but the heart also plays an important role in the body’s energy metabolism. Because the heart is a muscle that works continuously throughout life without rest, it is also a challenging organ to study. The MyME project aims to investigate the heart muscle’s own blood flow capacity and energy metabolism during physical exercise and recovery. The project uses so-called positron emission tomography (PET), a technique that employs radioactive isotopes, and is conducted in collaboration with Turku PET Centre, Turku, Finland.