Myocardial infarction, or a heart attack, affects over 800,000 people in the U.S. every year. Following a heart attack, a scar forms on the heart, leading to poorer heart function, and ultimately, it could lead to heart failure. Current treatment options are limited and have wide-ranging side effects. Using a recently developed imaging technique, researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in Canada (the BEaTS team), unveiled new insights on how injectable collagen materials have therapeutic potential in the treatment of heart attacks. The team of MUSC researchers was led by Peggi Angel, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Medicine. Their findings were published online in the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry on Oct. 29, 2021.