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Measurement of Strain in Cardiac Myocytes at Micrometer Scale Based on Rapid Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Non-Rigid Image Registration

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Abstract

Measurement of cell shortening is an important technique for assessment of physiology and pathophysiology of cardiac myocytes. Many types of heart disease are associated with decreased myocyte shortening, which is commonly caused by structural and functional remodeling. Here, we present a new approach for local measurement of 2-dimensional strain within cells at high spatial resolution. The approach applies non-rigid image registration to quantify local displacements and Cauchy strain in images of cells undergoing contraction. We extensively evaluated the approach using synthetic cell images and image sequences from rapid scanning confocal microscopy of fluorescently labeled isolated myocytes from the left ventricle of normal and diseased canine heart. Application of the approach yielded a comprehensive description of cellular strain including novel measurements of transverse strain and spatial heterogeneity of strain. Quantitative comparison with manual measurements of strain in image sequences indicated reliability of the developed approach. We suggest that the developed approach provides researchers with a novel tool to investigate contractility of cardiac myocytes at subcellular scale. In contrast to previously introduced methods for measuring cell shorting, the developed approach provides comprehensive information on the spatio-temporal distribution of 2-dimensional strain at micrometer scale.

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Abbreviations

DHF:

Dyssynchronous heart failure

EC:

Excitation–Contraction

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by NIH Grant R01 HL094464 (FBS) and the Nora Eccles Harrison Treadwell Foundation (FBS). We thank Mrs. Jayne Davis and Mrs. Nancy Allen for technical support as well as Dr. Thomas Seidel for discussions and help with the segmentation of cardiomyocytes. We acknowledge Dr. Marc Modat for providing us with information on the implementation of NiftyReg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute, University of Utah, 95 South 2000 East, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-5000, USA

    J. Lichter, Hui Li & Frank B. Sachse

  2. Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    J. Lichter & Frank B. Sachse

Authors
  1. J. Lichter
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  2. Hui Li
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  3. Frank B. Sachse
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Correspondence to Frank B. Sachse.

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Associate Editor Ellen Kuhl oversaw the review of this article.

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Lichter, J., Li, H. & Sachse, F.B. Measurement of Strain in Cardiac Myocytes at Micrometer Scale Based on Rapid Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Non-Rigid Image Registration. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 3020–3031 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1593-7

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