Use of Optical Mapping to assess the level of maturation of Engineered Heart Tissues

This research discusses the use of high-resolution optical mapping technique to quantify electrophysiological characteristics of engineered heart tissues (EHTs) that can be used to assess their maturation. Specifically, this study utilizes two electrophysiological parameters: maximum derivative of voltage over time (dv/dt max) and activation time (AT) to the end of assessing EHT functionality. We also investigated the importance of removing noise and artifacts and applying different binary masks to optimize these parameters. Finally, we compare dv/dt max and AT between EHT and murine adult cardiac tissue and demonstrated the sensitivity of these parameters in detecting the electrophysiological characteristics of both primary and engineered tissues.