Imaging Approaches and the Quantitative Analysis of Heart Development

J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2023 Mar 29;10(4):145. doi: 10.3390/jcdd10040145.

Abstract

Heart morphogenesis is a complex and dynamic process that has captivated researchers for almost a century. This process involves three main stages, during which the heart undergoes growth and folding on itself to form its common chambered shape. However, imaging heart development presents significant challenges due to the rapid and dynamic changes in heart morphology. Researchers have used different model organisms and developed various imaging techniques to obtain high-resolution images of heart development. Advanced imaging techniques have allowed the integration of multiscale live imaging approaches with genetic labeling, enabling the quantitative analysis of cardiac morphogenesis. Here, we discuss the various imaging techniques used to obtain high-resolution images of whole-heart development. We also review the mathematical approaches used to quantify cardiac morphogenesis from 3D and 3D+time images and to model its dynamics at the tissue and cellular levels.

Keywords: heart morphogenesis; imaging techniques; quantitative analysis; scanning laser; stereology; tomography.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

Grant support PGC2018-096486-B-I00 from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Grant H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016-722427 from the EU Horizon 2020 program to M.T. M.S. was supported by a La Caixa Foudation PhD fellowship (LCF/BQ/DE18/11670014) and The Company of Biologists travelling fellowship (DEVTF181145). The CNIC is supported by the Spanish Ministery of Science and the ProCNIC Foundation.