Abstract
The embryonic avian heart is an important model for studying cardiac developmental biology. The mechanisms that govern the development of a four-chambered heart from a peristaltic heart tube are largely unknown due in part to a lack of adequate imaging technology. Due to the small size and rapid motion of the living embryonic avian heart, an imaging system with high spatial and temporal resolution is required to study these models. Here, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system using a buffered Fourier Domain Mode Locked (FDML) laser is applied for ultrahigh-speed non-invasive imaging of embryonic quail hearts at 100,000 axial scans per second. The high scan rate enables the acquisition of high temporal resolution 2D datasets (195 frames per second or 5.12 ms between frames) and 3D datasets (10 volumes per second). Spatio-temporal details of cardiac motion not resolvable using previous OCT technology are analyzed. Visualization and measurement techniques are developed to non-invasively observe and quantify cardiac motion throughout the brief period of systole (less than 50 msec) and diastole. This marks the first time that the preseptated embryonic avian heart has been imaged in 4D without the aid of gating and the first time it has been viewed in cross section during looping with extremely high temporal resolution, enabling the observation of morphological dynamics of the beating heart during systole.
Highlights
Abnormalities that occur during heart formation in the embryo are responsible for congenital heart disease
An optical coherence tomography (OCT) system using a buffered Fourier Domain Mode Locked (FDML) laser is applied for ultrahigh-speed non-invasive imaging of embryonic quail hearts at 100,000 axial scans per second
Visualization and measurement techniques are developed to non-invasively observe and quantify cardiac motion throughout the brief period of systole and diastole. This marks the first time that the preseptated embryonic avian heart has been imaged in 4D without the aid of gating and the first time it has been viewed in cross section during looping with extremely high temporal resolution, enabling the observation of morphological dynamics of the beating heart during systole
Summary
Abnormalities that occur during heart formation in the embryo are responsible for congenital heart disease. The heart initially bulges toward the right of the embryo in the shape of a “C”, forms a complete loop leading to the process of septation that permits formation of a four chambered heart (septation takes approximately 6– 23 hours [2]) This process has been well documented by researchers including Hamburger and Hamilton [3], after whom the current staging of avian embryos is named. Failure of looping results in embryonic demise and looping abnormalities lead to major congenital heart defects so an understanding of this process is critical. An imaging tool with high spatial and temporal resolution and a field of view capable of imaging function and morphology simultaneously is critical to understanding the mechanisms of normal and abnormal cardiac development
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