Schematic Diagram of the Optical Path

Optical Path

Optical Mapping System and Accessories

Simultaneous Acquisition of AP and Ca Transient From Tens of Thousands of Channels

Optical Mapping: By incubating samples with fluorescent dyes and using an excitation light source to induce the emission of fluorescence, a high-speed camera captures the emitted light and records fluorescence changes, which reflect alterations in membrane potential in voltage or ion concentrations within cardiac tissue. This approach allows simultaneous recording of action potentials and calcium signals.

An efficient platform for cardiac drug screening and mechanistic studies was established by combining living myocardial slice and mapping techniques. The 300–400 μm ultrathin slices retain the native myocardial structure, support immersion culture for up to one month under sterile conditions, and are compatible with experimental (porcine) and clinical human myocardial tissues.

A ) Calcium transient mapping of porcine ventricular myocardial slices was performed under control conditions, 1 μM cisapride treatment, and co-treatment with 1 μM cisapride plus 10 nM ATXII. The results showed a CaT90 of 289 ms in the control group, prolonged CaT90 (318 ms) with cisapride, and prominent early afterdepolarizations (EADs) in the co-treatment group.

B ) Quantitative analysis of CaT90 distribution in porcine ventricular myocardial slices was conducted for the control, cisapride, and cisapride+ATXII groups. The data demonstrated a concentrated CaT90 distribution around 300 ms in controls, a rightward shift with cisapride, and a further shift accompanied by EAD-associated signals in the co-treatment group.

Optical mapping was used to detect ventricular electrophysiological activity during arrhythmic episodes.

A Spontaneous beat (Vm)

B. Ventricular alternans (Vm)

A ) Optical mapping was performed on the guinea pig ventricular myocardium with apical electrical stimulation. The results showed normal action potential (AP) morphology across all ventricular regions and rapid electrical conduction, indicating stable electrophysiological function under baseline conditions.

B ) Optical mapping was used to detect ventricular electrophysiological activity during arrhythmic episodes. The results revealed the presence of ventricular alternans, characterized by alternating wide and narrow AP waveforms, coupled with corresponding high and low calcium transient amplitudes and fluctuating fast/slow conduction velocities, which is consistent with the clinical manifestation of T-wave alternans.

C ) Optical mapping was applied to record electrical activity during ventricular fibrillation (VF). The results exhibited asynchronous depolarization and repolarization across different ventricular regions, and clearly visualized the spatiotemporal characteristics of reentrant circuits, directly demonstrating the reentry mechanism underlying ventricular fibrillation.