Following the Beat: Imaging the Valveless Pumping Function in the Early Embryonic Heart

Shang Wang, Irina V. Larina

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

In vertebrates, the coordinated beat of the early heart tube drives cardiogenesis and supports embryonic growth. How the heart pumps at this valveless stage marks a fascinating problem that is of vital significance for understanding cardiac development and defects. The developing heart achieves its function at the same time as continuous and dramatic morphological changes, which in turn modify its pumping dynamics. The beauty of this muti-time-scale process also highlights its complexity that requires interdisciplinary approaches to study. High-resolution optical imaging, particularly fast, four-dimensional (4D) imaging, plays a critical role in revealing the process of pumping, instructing numerical modeling, and enabling biomechanical analyses. In this review, we aim to connect the investigation of valveless pumping mechanisms with the recent advancements in embryonic cardiodynamic imaging, facilitating interactions between these two areas of study, in hopes of encouraging and motivating innovative work to further understand the early heartbeat.

Original languageEnglish
Article number267
JournalJournal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease
Volume9
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2022

Keywords

  • bright-field microscopy
  • cardiodynamics
  • confocal microscopy
  • embryonic heart
  • four-dimensional imaging
  • functional imaging
  • hemodynamics
  • light-sheet microscopy
  • optical coherence tomography
  • valveless pumping

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