Cardiac motion analysis of a rat model for myocardial infarction using high-frame-rate stereo images

By capturing three-dimensional motions of small markers on the heart of a small laboratory animal with 1000 fps stereo images, we realized a cardiac motion analysis system to quantify the rate of change in the myocardial area of its heart, which indicates the myocardium's activity for a rhythmic expansion/contraction motion in a local area. Using this cardiac motion capture system, we analyzed the three-dimensional motion distributions in the heart of a rat model for myocardial infarction, which had heart rate of 4 times/s or greater. In the analysis, the characteristic cardiac motion in ischemic heart diseases was spatiotemporally quantified and it was seen that the infarction area on the heart of the rat caused by ischemia was spread around its left ventricle.