Null-balance transducer for isometric force measurements and length control of single heart cells

Usefulness of electromagnetic induction type of force transducer and actuator for myofibril mechanics

A high performance device for measuring force and length change during myofibril contraction is fabricated. The principle of a device depends on the law of electromagnetic induction. Homogenized myofibrils were attached between two wires exposed in the uniform magnetic field by silicon adhesive under an inverted microscope. The purpose of this study is to examine performance whether the electromagnetic induction type of device actually works. Sensitivity and time resolution of force transducer was 50nN and 1ms respectively. Working displacement and time resolution of actuator as length transducer was 1-20 µm and 1.2 ms. We confirmed the performance of the device by showing appropriate force response to changes in length during myofibrils contraction, and possibility of application of the device to myofibril mechanics is discussed.

A force transducer for measuring mechanical properties of single cardiac myocytes

We have described a transducer design capable of recording forces generated by single cardiac myocytes with sufficient temporal resolution to detect force responses to rapid length changes. Our force sensors were made from thin steel foils that act as cantilevers whose bending is monitored by reflection off a laser beam. Deflection of the laser beam is measured by a differential photodiode detector. A small, 50-micron-thick tungsten needle attached to the free end of the steel foil allowed us to glue single cardiac cells to the force transducer. The transducers have compliances of approximately 0.02 m/N and resonance frequencies between 2 and 3 kHz. The resolution is approximately 18 nN rms at a detector bandwidth of 16 kHz, so we were able to resolve 0.2% of the maximum isometric force ( approximately 12 microN) developed by a single cardiac myocyte. We have demonstrated that the transducer is well suited to analysis of mechanical properties of single ventricular myocytes, for example, the recording of isometric forces and rate constants of force redevelopment after rapid release-restretch maneuvers.

Gel stretch method: a new method to measure constitutive properties of cardiac muscle cells

Diastolic dysfunction is an important cause of congestive heart failure; however, the basic mechanisms causing diastolic congestive heart failure are not fully understood, especially the role of the cardiac muscle cell, or cardiocyte, in this process. Before the role of the cardiocyte in this pathophysiology can be defined, methods for measuring cardiocyte constitutive properties must be developed and validated. Thus this study was designed to evaluate a new method to characterize cardiocyte constitutive properties, the gel stretch method. Cardiocytes were isolated enzymatically from normal feline hearts and embedded in a 2% agarose gel containing HEPES-Krebs buffer and laminin. This gel was cast in a shape that allowed it to be placed in a stretching device. The ends of the gel were held between a movable roller and fixed plates that acted as mandibles. Distance between the right and left mandibles was increased using a stepper motor system. The force applied to the gel was measured by a force transducer. The resultant cardiocyte strain was determined by imaging the cells with a microscope, capturing the images with a CCD camera, and measuring cardiocyte and sarcomere length changes. Cardiocyte stress was characterized with a finite-element method. These measurements of cardiocyte stress and strain were used to determine cardiocyte stiffness. Two variables affecting cardiocyte stiffness were measured, the passive elastic spring and viscous damping. The passive spring was assessed by increasing the force on the gel at 1 g/min, modeling the resultant stress vs. strain relationship as an exponential [sigma = A/k(ekepsilon - 1)]. In normal cardiocytes, A = 23.0 kN/m2 and k = 16. Viscous damping was assessed by examining the loop area between the stress vs. strain relationship during 1 g/min increases and decreases in force. Normal cardiocytes had a finite loop area = 1.39 kN/m2, indicating the presence of viscous damping. Thus the gel stretch method provided accurate measurements of cardiocyte constitutive properties. These measurements have allowed the first quantitative assessment of passive elastic spring properties and viscous damping in normal mammalian cardiocytes.

Active force in rabbit ventricular myocytes

Although recent technical advances have established the feasibility of force measurements in single cardiac myocytes, the physiological relevance of this model has not been fully evaluated. We measured active force and sarcomere length in single rabbit left ventricular myocytes and compared their physiological responses to changes in stimulus interval, calcium concentration and sarcomere length to results from isolated papillary muscles. Myocytes were attached to two poly-L-lysine-coated glass plates and force was measured with a capacitive force transducer (Cambridge 406A). Stable recordings from a continuously contracting myocyte could be maintained for over 1 h. In five cells, increasing stimulus interval significantly decreased active force development. This force-stimulus interval relation was similar to that obtained from papillary muscles. In one cell, we obtained a force-length relation that was similar to force-length relations from multicellular preparations. Active stresses (active forces normalized by cross-sectional area) were of similar magnitude when comparing myocytes (at slack length) and papillary muscles (at 85% of Lmax). These results confirm the physiological relevance of force measurements obtained from intact mammalian cardiac myocytes.

Force-sensing microprobe for precise stimulation of mechanosensitive tissues

Quantitative study of the transduction mechanisms in mechanically sensitive nerve terminals has been impeded by the lack of instrumentation with which to generate precisely controlled, physically localized mechanical stimuli. We have developed high-resolution force sensing mechanical microprobes for use in the characterization of such nerve terminals. This paper describes their design, fabrication, and testing. A microprobe is comprised of a 0.5- to 2-mm long silicon cantilever beam projecting from a larger supporting silicon substrate. Acting as the variable leg of a Wheatstone bridge circuit, a piezoresistive polysilicon element located at the base of the beam is used to measure the stimulation force applied at the tip. The microprobes exhibit a stable, linear relationship between the stimulation force and the resulting output voltage signal. Stimulation forces up to 3 mN have been generated with a measurement resolution of 10 microN. These microprobes have been used as the force sensing element of a closed loop feedback-controlled stimulation system capable of stimulating the mechanoreceptive nerve terminals of the rabbit corneal epithelium.

An optical fiber transducer for single myofibril force measurement

A force transducer has been developed for use in force measurement of skeletal muscle myofibrils. The transducer is suitable for measurement of passive and contractile forces in a range up to 200 micrograms, with 1 microgram resolution. It is based upon the operating principle of the deflection of an optical fiber of known compliance, sensed by the differential illumination of two phototransistors. Attractive features include ease of operation and specimen mounting, high bandwidth, adaptability for different force ranges, and simple and inexpensive construction.

Contraction and relaxation of isolated cardiac myocytes of the frog under varying mechanical loads

The mechanics of cardiac systole and relaxation have been studied primarily at the level of the whole heart or intact muscle. End-systolic pressure-volume relations of frog hearts have been found to be load dependent, whereas those of the mammal are relatively load independent. On the other hand, myocardial relaxation as studied at the muscle level is load independent in the frog but markedly load dependent in the mammal. Interpretation of these studies is complicated because of the unknown contribution of extracellular connective tissue, neurohumoral factors, and, in the case of the heart, the complex chamber geometry. Therefore, it is valuable to study cardiac mechanics at the level of the basic unit of contractile activity--the isolated myocyte. The goal of this study was to subject isolated frog cardiomyocytes to mechanical loading paradigms that mimic those presented to the cells within the heart. In the first part of this study, the afterload and preload of contracting cells were varied to study their effects on the end-systolic force-length relation, which was consistently found to be load independent over the range of isotonic shortening tested (typically 5%). We also investigated the force-length-time response of the cells to test the concept of the heart behaving as a time-varying elastance. Our results suggest that in this regard the frog myocyte behaves like mammalian muscle, and they are consistent with the presence of a small viscosity within the cell. We conclude that the tissue structure of the frog heart may contribute to disparity in mechanical behavior at the different structural levels. In the second part of this study, we subjected isolated frog cardiomyocytes to four different loading paradigms to test the hypothesis that myocardial relaxation in the frog is independent of load. These sequences consisted of afterloaded contractions followed by conventional isotonic-isometric relaxation (ACCR) or afterloaded contractions followed by physiologically reversed isometric-isotonic relaxation (ACPR). Relaxation was measured under isometric conditions using a variable afterload with either the ACCR or ACPR paradigms. The decay of force was independent of the cell length at which it occurred or the amount of shortening prior to it within the contractile cycle. Relaxation also was measured as relengthening of the cell under isotonic late-load conditions, using the ACPR paradigm either with a variable afterload or variable late load. Relengthening had a time course that was unaffected by changes in afterload (i.e., extents of shortening) or late load (equivalent to the filling pressure for the heart).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)