PD Dr. Bettina Heidecker, MD, FESC, FACC is the Head of Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy at the Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin. She trained as Post-Doctorate Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University. In 2007, she followed her mentor Dr. Joshua Hare to the University of Miami, where she completed her research projects and residency training in internal medicine. After that, she successfully completed a cardiology fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Following her training as a clinician-scientist, she returned to Europe and established a myocarditis clinic at Zurich University Hospital. In 2018, she accepted her position at the Charité.

Her research areas include inflammatory cardiomyopathies, amyloidosis, biomarkers, and precision medicine. She received research awards including the Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award, American Heart Association (AHA); the Jay N. Cohn New Investigator Integrative Physiology/Clinical Award, Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA); the Samuel A. Levine Clinical Young Investigator Award, AHA and a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Recently, Dr. Heidecker held the 30th Annual Lemberg Lectureship at the University of Miami and received an honorary professorship named after Miriam Lemberg. In prior years, world renowned cardiologists such as Peter Libby, Eugene Braunwald (Harvard Medical School), and Valentin Fuster (Mount Sinai Hospital New York) received this award.

She serves as member of the Board of Directors of the Myocarditis Foundation and collaborates in international research projects that focus on improved diagnosis and treatment of myocarditis and other inflammatory cardiomyopathies. Dr. Heidecker is accredited as a cardiologist and as an internist in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the United States. She is board certified in cardiology, internal medicine and echocardiography in the United States and Europe. Dr. Heidecker completed training in genetic analysis and counseling at the University of Würzburg, Germany.

Peter Galev talks with Dr. Heidecker:

Dr. Heidecker, why did you focus on the search for methods for non-invasive diagnosis of the heart, other than the previously known imaging methods?

Since 2006, I have specialized in the field of cardiomyopathies, with a particular focus on inflammatory cardiomyopathies such as myocarditis and sarcoidosis. Myocarditis is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death among young adults, while sarcoidosis is often diagnosed too late in this population, frequently necessitating heart transplants at a young age—or, in the absence of a suitable donor, leading to premature death. These outcomes are tragic and, crucially, preventable in many cases.

Despite the availability of highly sensitive diagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), the widespread application of these technologies in clinical practice is hampered by several challenges. These include potential side effects, a lack of necessary infrastructure and skilled personnel to interpret the imaging data, high cost, and the extensive time and resources required for these imaging techniques. The reality is that these obstacles prevent the broad, low-threshold application of advanced imaging technologies that could significantly mitigate the risks associated with these conditions.

To reduce the risk of late diagnosis, the progression of disease to advanced heart failure, and sudden death, it is imperative to introduce widespread screening for inflammatory heart diseases. For such screening to be effective, the technology utilized must meet several criteria: it should be capable of performing measurements within a short period of time to accommodate a high volume of patients daily, user-friendly to minimize the training period required for staff to operate it independently, and devoid of side effects, eliminating hesitation in its broad application for patients including children, pregnant women and those with advanced renal disease in whom certain contrast agents or radiation can be a problem. Additionally, this technology should facilitate serial monitoring, enabling us to track therapy response over time efficiently.

Since 2006, I focused my research on finding better diagnostic tools for myocarditis and sarcoidosis and recently I discovered a very promising technology together with my team.

What is the method you work with?

The method is called magnetocardiography (MCG). The core of the MCG is a superconducting quantum interferene device (SQUID), which can detect the electromagnetic field of the heart.  Quantum technology, which is currently experiencing a surge in innovation, forms the basis of our MCG instrument. Knowledge from the 1960s revealed that every heart emits a magnetic field.  My team and I discovered that in inflammatory heart disease, such as myocarditis and sarcoidosis, this magnetic field becomes abnormal.  In particular in acute disease, the magnetic vector can become very distinct and this allows us to see that a patient has a diseased heart and needs further workup.  This way, we can assign resources more effectively.

The measurement process is remarkably quick, taking only one minute. This efficiency could allow for the screening of approximately 40 patients during a 10-hour workday (accounting for 15 minutes of patient preparation) or up to 96 patients daily if the instrument operates continuously. This highlights the significant potential and capacity of MCG technology in medical diagnostics.

Which diseases and conditions can be diagnosed by this method?

Additionally, our research has successfully identified abnormal magnetic vectors in cases of amyloidosis. We have also leveraged MCG for serial monitoring to detect recurrences of myocarditis, demonstrating its value in ongoing patient care. Given that MCG is free of side effects, it has been particularly advantageous for regular monitoring of patients with more severe myocarditis, necessitating extended clinical follow-up. This non-invasive approach allows for safe, repeated assessments over time, enhancing our ability to manage and understand the disease progression.

How long does such a diagnosis take and is the equipment with which it is performed available?

The measurement itself takes 1 minute. Currently it is only approved for research use.

In what direction are your efforts continuing?

Collecting data from extensive patient cohorts is crucial for refining our interpretation of MCG results.  Currently the technology is only approved for research.  To apply it in clinical practice, large clinical studies are needed.  I view this as a collective responsiblity for our team and myself. We are using a technology that has proven effective in our research studies and holds the potential to benefit patients globally. It is our goal to ensure its reach and impact are maximized to help patients in the future with early diagnosis and effective therapy. Moreover, I am convinced that beyond its current applications in diagnostic screening and treatment monitoring, this highly sensitive technology harbors numerous untapped potentials waiting to be explored.