Virtual sectioning of cardiac tissue relative to fiber orientation

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2008:2008:226-9. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2008.4649131.

Abstract

Ventricular myocardium is composed of muscle fibers organised into a complex, branching, laminar (sheet-like) structure. The fibers run approximately parallel to the epicardial wall, but their orientation relative to the circumferential axis varies transmurally, rotating from around -70 degrees at the epicardium to +70 degrees at the endocardium. This ensures that any flat transmural imaging plane or histological section contains only a partial description of myocardial architecture, as fibers intersect with the image plane at a variety of angles depending on transmural depth. We have developed a new way of viewing microstructure that accounts for this variation. Extended-volume confocal 3-D images of normal rat left-ventricular wall have previously been acquired, with an approximate size of 4x1x1 mm3. The transmural fiber rotation is measured on planes parallel to the epicardium, and used to define a curvilinear coordinate system with a transmural axis, and a second axis defined relative to the local fiber orientation. Images extracted from the image volume on curvilinear planes derived from these axes reveal a consistent view of myocardial architecture.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / instrumentation*
  • Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / methods*
  • Animals
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Image Enhancement / instrumentation
  • Image Enhancement / methods
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods
  • Microscopy, Confocal / instrumentation*
  • Microscopy, Confocal / methods*
  • Microtomy / instrumentation*
  • Microtomy / methods*
  • Myocardium / cytology*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Specimen Handling / instrumentation
  • Specimen Handling / methods