16/06/2021 - Dustin (ESR #14)
This flyer shows an image acquired by echocardiography. It is a comparison of ultrasound images of a heart of mouse (left) and a human (right). *Disclaimer: The images are taken with a different resolution and have a different scale. The heart consists of 4 chambers divided in two small- (atria) and two large chambers (ventricles). The blood enters the heart via the atrium. Next, the blood is collected in the ventricle (diastole) and pumped out with every heart beat (systole).
These types of images are routinely used to examine the heart of patients, since it presents safe, convenient and non-invasive way to investigate both anatomy (B-mode) and function (M-mode) of the heart. In a comparison the four-chamber-view of the two hearts is shown. This view is used to specific investigate the pumping behavior including the blood flow of all chambers and gives therefore insights about the diastolic and systolic function.
As seen in the image, the four-chamber view of the mouse does not always show all 4 chambers. In the mouse heart there is often just the left ventricle and atrium visible. This is caused by a shadow from the breast bone covering the right side of the mouse heart. However, the parameters measured by this method good concordance between mice and human. Consequently, I will use, among other techniques, high-resolution ultrasound imaging method in my project to examine the function of the left ventricle in mice during cancer therapy.