Low-Cost Optical Mapping Systems for Panoramic Imaging of Complex Arrhythmias and Drug-Action in Translational Heart Models

Peter Lee,José Millet,David Filgueiras-Rama,José M Alfonso-Almazán,Jorge G Quintanilla,Francisco J Chorro,Conrado J Calvo,Leslie M Loew,Ping Yan

doi:10.1038/srep43217

Abstract

Panoramic optical mapping is the primary method for imaging electrophysiological activity from the entire outer surface of Langendorff-perfused hearts. To date, it is the only method of simultaneously measuring multiple key electrophysiological parameters, such as transmembrane voltage and intracellular free calcium, at high spatial and temporal resolution. Despite the impact it has already had on the fields of cardiac arrhythmias and whole-heart computational modeling, present-day system designs precludes its adoption by the broader cardiovascular research community because of their high costs. Taking advantage of recent technological advances, we developed and validated low-cost optical mapping systems for panoramic imaging using Langendorff-perfused pig hearts, a clinically-relevant model in basic research and bioengineering. By significantly lowering financial thresholds, this powerful cardiac electrophysiology imaging modality may gain wider use in research and, even, teaching laboratories, which we substantiated using the lower-cost Langendorff-perfused rabbit heart model.

Highlights

Optical mapping is a high-speed fluorescence imaging method that uses fluorescent dyes to measure cardiac and neuronal electrophysiological parameters such as transmembrane voltage, intracellular free calcium and cell-to-cell communication
Among the common animal models used for obtaining translational cardiac electrophysiology data, ventricular fibrillation in the rabbit heart represents the highest frequency events, reaching as high as ~30 Hz9,10
We describe three optical mapping systems built around a collection of four Wide-VGA USB3.0 CMOS cameras (~$600 USD each at the time of writing) and one 2.2 Megapixel USB3.0 CMOS camera (~$1200 USD at the time of writing)

Summary

Introduction

Optical mapping is a high-speed fluorescence imaging method that uses fluorescent dyes to measure cardiac and neuronal electrophysiological parameters such as transmembrane voltage, intracellular free calcium and cell-to-cell communication. The first system uses four cameras to image the transmembrane voltage from the entire epicardial surface of the heart from four -spaced points-of-view.

Results

Conclusion