Ventricular fibrillation is a life-threatening condition in which the heart no longer beats but "quivers" very rapidly - 350 times per minute or more. A person with this condition must receive defibrillation within minutes to avoid sudden cardiac death.

By using an injection of voltage-sensitive fluorescent dye in animals, researchers have now made it possible to precisely photograph the heart at over 1,000 frames per second in the moments leading up to ventricular fibrillation. The resulting images seem to show clear precursors that may be warning signs of imminent ventricular fibrillation.

The research may one day result in sensitive bedside monitors that are capable of detecting ventricular fibrillation several minutes before it strikes.

"We don't know what starts ventricular fibrillation or why defibrillation - electrically shocking the heart back into beating normally - works to correct it," explained Dr. Autumn Schumacher, from the MCG School of Nursing, in a recent press release. "We do, however, need a better understanding of this abnormal rhythm and its subtle warning signals so that we can develop smarter bedside monitors."

The study is being conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

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