A tomographic microscopy-compatible Langendorff system for the dynamic structural characterization of the cardiac cycle

Hector Dejea; Christian M Schlepütz; Natalia Méndez-Carmona; Maria Arnold; Patricia Garcia-Canadilla; Sarah L Longnus; Marco Stampanoni; Bart Bijnens; Anne Bonnin

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.1023483

A tomographic microscopy-compatible Langendorff system for the dynamic structural characterization of the cardiac cycle

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Dec 22:9:1023483. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.1023483. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Hector Dejea^{1

2}, Christian M Schlepütz¹, Natalia Méndez-Carmona^{3

4}, Maria Arnold^{3

4}, Patricia Garcia-Canadilla^{5

6}, Sarah L Longnus^{3

4}, Marco Stampanoni^{1

2}, Bart Bijnens^{7

8}, Anne Bonnin¹

Affiliations

¹ Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.
² Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
³ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
⁴ Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁵ BCNatal-Barcelona Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
⁶ Cardiovascular Diseases and Child Development, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain.
⁷ Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
⁸ Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiac architecture has been extensively investigated ex vivo using a broad spectrum of imaging techniques. Nevertheless, the heart is a dynamic system and the structural mechanisms governing the cardiac cycle can only be unveiled when investigating it as such.

Methods: This work presents the customization of an isolated, perfused heart system compatible with synchrotron-based X-ray phase contrast imaging (X-PCI).

Results: Thanks to the capabilities of the developed setup, it was possible to visualize a beating isolated, perfused rat heart for the very first time in 4D at an unprecedented 2.75 μm pixel size (10.6 μm spatial resolution), and 1 ms temporal resolution.

Discussion: The customized setup allows high-spatial resolution studies of heart architecture along the cardiac cycle and has thus the potential to serve as a tool for the characterization of the structural dynamics of the heart, including the effects of drugs and other substances able to modify the cardiac cycle.

Keywords: 4D imaging; Langendorff; cardiac cycle; synchrotron; tomographic microscopy.