The Visible Heart® Laboratories Headed to the Professional Women’s Hockey League

While leading the Gophers on the ice during her undergraduate and graduate years at the University of Minnesota, Madeline Wethington was at Visible Heart® Laboratories (VHL) working on her Master’s thesis with Dr. Paul Iaizzo. “With physician collaborators, we noticed a glaring gap in heart modeling due to an absence of available ‘disease state’ heart models,” says Wethington. For her graduate project, she addresses this gap by using micro-CT scanning to develop a smartphone app, “A Heart to Learn”, that allows people to visualize and interact with a model of the human heart with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy and/or Atrial Fibrillation at different stages. Since being released in May, the “A Heart to Learn” app has been downloaded in 22 countries.

Wethington successfully defended her thesis in May and was drafted to the Professional Women’s Hockey League by Ottawa a month later. “It's so exciting to see all the support and be a part of the PWHL right now at a time when the League is inspiring the next generation of women,” says Wethington. “Hockey has always been a part of my life and I am beyond grateful to continue playing.” 

Even though Wethington is a master on the ice, she is also striving to become a physician. “Since I was 5 years old, I’ve always known I wanted to become a doctor like my grandfather. That’s why I prioritized doing research and pursuing my masters, to better prepare myself for medical school,” says Wethington. “Hockey has given me the opportunity to get an education at the U and have a platform to be a role model for young girls. I want to show people that they can pursue medicine and sports at a high level.” Wethington has currently applied and is waiting to hear back from 24 medical schools.

As she prepares to move to Ottawa in November, Wethington plans to continue pursuing research. “Right now, I’m working on creating full-body 3D models using CT scans from donated cadavers for future VHL apps,” says Wethington. “My research has taught me how to innovate solutions and make research-driven decisions. When I get into medical school, I plan on using the technical skills I’ve gained at VHL to continue pursuing research.”