Lopez Andrew L, Wang Shang, Larina Irina V
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA.
J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2020 Oct 4;7(4):42. doi: 10.3390/jcdd7040042.
The embryonic heart is an active and developing organ. Genetic studies in mouse models have generated great insight into normal heart development and congenital heart defects, and suggest mechanical forces such as heart contraction and blood flow to be implicated in cardiogenesis and disease. To explore this relationship and investigate the interplay between biomechanical forces and cardiac development, live dynamic cardiac imaging is essential. Cardiodynamic imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT) is proving to be a unique approach to functional analysis of the embryonic mouse heart. Its compatibility with live culture systems, reagent-free contrast, cellular level resolution, and millimeter scale imaging depth make it capable of imaging the heart volumetrically and providing spatially resolved information on heart wall dynamics and blood flow. Here, we review the progress made in mouse embryonic cardiodynamic imaging with OCT, highlighting leaps in technology to overcome limitations in resolution and acquisition speed. We describe state-of-the-art functional OCT methods such as Doppler OCT and OCT angiography for blood flow imaging and quantification in the beating heart. As OCT is a continuously developing technology, we provide insight into the future developments of this area, toward the investigation of normal cardiogenesis and congenital heart defects.
胚胎心脏是一个活跃且不断发育的器官。对小鼠模型的遗传学研究极大地增进了我们对正常心脏发育和先天性心脏缺陷的理解，并表明诸如心脏收缩和血流等机械力与心脏发生和疾病有关。为了探究这种关系并研究生物力学力与心脏发育之间的相互作用，实时动态心脏成像至关重要。光学相干断层扫描（OCT）进行的心脏动力学成像正被证明是一种对胚胎小鼠心脏进行功能分析的独特方法。它与活细胞培养系统的兼容性、无需试剂的对比度、细胞水平的分辨率以及毫米级的成像深度，使其能够对心脏进行容积成像，并提供有关心脏壁动力学和血流的空间分辨信息。在此，我们回顾了利用OCT进行小鼠胚胎心脏动力学成像所取得的进展，突出了克服分辨率和采集速度限制的技术飞跃。我们描述了用于跳动心脏中血流成像和定量的最先进功能OCT方法，如多普勒OCT和OCT血管造影。由于OCT是一项不断发展的技术，我们展望了该领域未来的发展方向，以用于研究正常心脏发生和先天性心脏缺陷。
