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Brunet J, Cook AC, Walsh CL, Cranley J, Tafforeau P, Engel K, Berruyer C, O’Leary EB, Bellier A, Torii R, Werlein C, Jonigk DD, Ackermann M, Dollman K, Lee PD. Multidimensional Analysis of the Adult Human Heart in Health and Disease using Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT). bioRxiv 2023:2023.10.09.561474. [PMID: 37873359 PMCID: PMC10592740 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.09.561474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of death worldwide. Current clinical imaging modalities provide resolution adequate for diagnosis but are unable to provide detail of structural changes in the heart, across length-scales, necessary for understanding underlying pathophysiology of disease. Hierarchical Phase-Contrast Tomography (HiP-CT), using new (4th) generation synchrotron sources, potentially overcomes this limitation, allowing micron resolution imaging of intact adult organs with unprecedented detail. In this proof of principle study (n=2), we show the utility of HiP-CT to image whole adult human hearts ex-vivo: one 'control' without known cardiac disease and one with multiple known cardiopulmonary pathologies. The resulting multiscale imaging was able to demonstrate exemplars of anatomy in each cardiac segment along with novel findings in the cardiac conduction system, from gross (20 um/voxel) to cellular scale (2.2 um/voxel), non-destructively, thereby bridging the gap between macroscopic and microscopic investigations. We propose that the technique represents a significant step in virtual autopsy methods for studying structural heart disease, facilitating research into abnormalities across scales and age-groups. It opens up possibilities for understanding and treating disease; and provides a cardiac 'blueprint' with potential for in-silico simulation, device design, virtual surgical training, and bioengineered heart in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Brunet
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - A. C. Cook
- UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, London, UK
| | - C. L. Walsh
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - J. Cranley
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - P. Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - K. Engel
- Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany
| | - C. Berruyer
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - E. Burke O’Leary
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - A. Bellier
- Laboratoire d’Anatomie des Alpes Françaises (LADAF), Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, F
| | - R. Torii
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - C. Werlein
- Institute of Pathology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- Biomedical Research in End-stage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), German Lung Research Centre (DZL), Hannover, Germany
| | - D. D. Jonigk
- Biomedical Research in End-stage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), German Lung Research Centre (DZL), Hannover, Germany
- Institute of Pathology, Aachen Medical University, RWTH Aachen, Germany
| | - M. Ackermann
- Institute of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, Helios University Clinic Wuppertal, University of Witten/Herdecke, Wuppertal, Germany
- Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - K. Dollman
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
| | - P. D. Lee
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, UK
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