Real-time measurement of cardiomyocyte contraction and calcium transients using fast image processing algorithms

Abstract

An improved technique for recording of contraction of heart cells simultaneously with recording of calcium transients by fluorescence method is introduced. The technique aims to quantify contractions under conditions including low image quality caused by reduced transmitted light. The proposed methods allow more accurate detection, lower error rate using the up-to-date image processing, and automation of the process comparing to recent approaches. The technique is compared with direct optical measurement method using processing of two-dimensional digital images of the cardiac cell. The technique is improved to be fast enough to be included in the system for real-time measurements.