By IANS,
Washington: Imagine being able to image life as it happens by capturing a video of the embryonic heart before it begins beating.
Kirill Larin, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Cullen College of Engineering at University of Houston, and his colleagues at the Texas Medical Centre are documenting the formation of the mammalian heart through a high-resolution, non-invasive imaging device.
“Everything we know about early development of the heart and formation of the vasculature system comes from in vitro studies of fixed tissue samples or studies of amphibian and fish embryos,” Larin said.
“With this technology, we are able to image life as it happens, see the heart beat in a mammal for the very first time,” Larin adds.
Using optical-coherence tomography (OCT), Larin and his colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine’s Dickinson Lab are using the technique to study what leads to cardiovascular abnormalities.
Whereas ultrasound uses sound waves to create viewable, yet grainy, video images, OCT uses optical contrast and infrared broadband laser sources to help generate a real-time, high-resolution output.
“We are using OCT to image mouse and rat embryos, looking at video taken about seven days after conception, out of a 20-day typical mammalian pregnancy,” Larin said, according to a Houston release.
“This way, we are able to capture video of the embryonic heart before it begins beating, and a day later we can see the heart beginning to form in the shape of a tube and see whether or not the chambers are contracting. Then, we begin to see blood distribution and the heart rate,” said Larin.