Murine myocardium oct imaging with a blood substitute

Imaging of the in vivo murine myocardium using optical coherence tomography (OCT) is described. Application of conventional techniques (e.g. MRI, Ultrasound imaging) for imaging the murine myocardium is problematic because the wall thickness is less than 1.5 mm (20 g mouse), and the heart rate can be as high as six-hundred beats per minute. To acquire a real-time image of the murine myocardium, OCT can provide sufficient spatial resolution (10 μm) and imaging speed (1000 A-Scans/s). Strong light scattering by blood in the heart causes significant light attenuation making delineation of the endocardium-chamber boundary problematic. By replacing whole blood in the mouse with an artificial blood substitute we demonstrate significant reduction of light scattering in the murine myocardium. The results indicate a significant reduction in light scattering as whole blood hematocrit is diminished below 5%. To measure thickness change of the myocardium during one cycle, a myocardimn edge detection algorithm is developed and demonstrated.