4D blood flow mapping using SPIM-microPIV in the developing zebrafish heart

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel imaging platform combining SPIM and microPIV to achieve non-invasive, 3D+time blood flow mapping in the developing zebrafish heart, advancing understanding of cardiac fluid dynamics.

Contribution

The study presents a new 3D+time imaging system that overcomes limitations of traditional methods, enabling detailed flow analysis in live embryonic hearts.

Findings

Successful 3D+time blood flow mapping in zebrafish embryo heart

Reduced errors compared to traditional epifluorescence microPIV

Potential for studying cardiac fluid-structure interactions

Abstract

Fluid-structure interaction in the developing heart is an active area of research in developmental biology. However, investigation of heart dynamics is mostly limited to computational fluid dynamics simulations using heart wall structure information only, or single plane blood flow information - so there is a need for 3D + time resolved data to fully understand cardiac function. We present an imaging platform combining selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) with micro particle image velocimetry ({\textmu}PIV) to enable 3D-resolved flow mapping in a microscopic environment, free from many of the sources of error and bias present in traditional epifluorescence-based {\textmu}PIV systems. By using our new system in conjunction with optical heart beat synchronisation, we demonstrte the ability obtain non-invasive 3D + time resolved blood flow measurements in the heart of a living zebrafish embryo.