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Optophysiology of cardiomyocytes: characterizing cellular motion with quantitative phase imaging
Christine Cordeiro1, Oscar J Abilez2,3, Georges Goetz4
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Biomedical Optics Express
|October 31, 2017
Summary
Quantitative phase imaging non-destructively analyzes cardiomyocyte populations. This method characterizes cell type, health, and dynamics using shape and motion, aiding tissue regeneration and drug testing.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Cardiomyocytes are crucial for cardiac function.
- Distinguishing cardiomyocyte types and assessing health is vital for research and clinical applications.
- Current characterization methods can be invasive or time-consuming.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce quantitative phase imaging (QPI) as a non-destructive method for cardiomyocyte analysis.
- To demonstrate QPI's ability to characterize cell populations based on shape, volume, and dynamics.
- To explore QPI's potential for classifying stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing interferometric quantitative phase imaging to capture cellular morphology and dynamics.
- Analyzing parameters like cell volume, beating frequency, and cycle regularity.
- Comparing QPI with traditional electrophysiological methods.
Main Results:
- QPI precisely characterizes cardiomyocyte shape and motion.
- Cell volume variations distinguish cardiomyocyte types.
- Beating cycle dynamics reveal contraction, relaxation, and overall cell health.
- QPI enables rapid, non-destructive analysis of large cell populations.
Conclusions:
- Quantitative phase imaging offers a powerful, non-invasive tool for cardiomyocyte characterization.
- This technique facilitates rapid population analysis, longitudinal studies, and diverse applications.
- QPI holds promise for advancing tissue regeneration, personalized medicine, and drug discovery.
