Comprehensive assessment of myocardial remodeling in ischemic heart disease by synchrotron propagation based X-ray phase contrast imaging

Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 7;11(1):14020. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93054-6.

Abstract

Cardiovascular research is in an ongoing quest for a superior imaging method to integrate gross-anatomical information with microanatomy, combined with quantifiable parameters of cardiac structure. In recent years, synchrotron radiation-based X-ray Phase Contrast Imaging (X-PCI) has been extensively used to characterize soft tissue in detail. The objective was to use X-PCI to comprehensively quantify ischemic remodeling of different myocardial structures, from cell to organ level, in a rat model of myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction-induced remodeling was recreated in a well-established rodent model. Ex vivo rodent hearts were imaged by propagation based X-PCI using two configurations resulting in 5.8 µm and 0.65 µm effective pixel size images. The acquired datasets were used for a comprehensive assessment of macrostructural changes including the whole heart and vascular tree morphology, and quantification of left ventricular myocardial thickness, mass, volume, and organization. On the meso-scale, tissue characteristics were explored and compared with histopathological methods, while microstructural changes were quantified by segmentation of cardiomyocytes and calculation of cross-sectional areas. Propagation based X-PCI provides detailed visualization and quantification of morphological changes on whole organ, tissue, vascular as well as individual cellular level of the ex vivo heart, with a single, non-destructive 3D imaging modality.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Coronary Vessels / diagnostic imaging
  • Diagnostic Imaging / methods*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional
  • Male
  • Microscopy, Phase-Contrast
  • Myocardial Ischemia / diagnostic imaging*
  • Myocardial Ischemia / pathology*
  • Myocardial Ischemia / therapy
  • Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
  • Rats
  • Synchrotrons*
  • Ventricular Remodeling*
  • X-Rays*