Mapping cardiac microstructure of rabbit heart in different mechanical states by high resolution diffusion tensor imaging: A proof-of-principle study.
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Published version
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Myocardial microstructure and its macroscopic materialisation are fundamental to the function of the heart. Despite this importance, characterisation of cellular features at the organ level remains challenging, and a unifying description of the structure of the heart is still outstanding. Here, we optimised diffusion tensor imaging data to acquire high quality data in ex vivo rabbit hearts in slack and contractured states, approximating diastolic and systolic conditions. The data were analysed with a suite of methods that focused on different aspects of the myocardium. In the slack heart, we observed a similar transmural gradient in helix angle of the primary eigenvector of up to 23.6°/mm in the left ventricle and 24.2°/mm in the right ventricle. In the contractured heart, the same transmural gradient remained largely linear, but was offset by up to +49.9° in the left ventricle. In the right ventricle, there was an increase in the transmural gradient to 31.2°/mm and an offset of up to +39.0°. The application of tractography based on each eigenvector enabled visualisation of streamlines that depict cardiomyocyte and sheetlet organisation over large distances. We observed multiple V- and N-shaped sheetlet arrangements throughout the myocardium, and insertion of sheetlets at the intersection of the left and right ventricle. This study integrates several complementary techniques to visualise and quantify the heart's microstructure, projecting parameter representations across different length scales. This represents a step towards a more comprehensive characterisation of myocardial microstructure at the whole organ level.
Date Issued
2016-06-16
Date Acceptance
2016-06-13
Citation
Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 2016, 121 (2), pp.85-96
ISSN
1873-1732
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
85
End Page
96
Journal / Book Title
Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology
Volume
121
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
British Heart Foundation
British Heart Foundation
Identifier
PII: S0079-6107(16)30060-8
Grant Number
323099
FS/12/17/29532
DFRYQE0
Subjects
Diastole
Diffusion tensor imaging
Myocardial tissue characterisation
Rabbit heart
Systole
Tractography
Publication Status
Published