Vacuum-assisted tissue embedding for whole-heart imaging

The use of combined optical imaging and tissue sectioning has potential for use in visualizing heart-wide fine structures at single-cell resolution. However, existing tissue preparation methods fail to generate ultrathin cavity-containing cardiac tissue slices with minimal deformation. This study de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomedical optics express 2023-06, Vol.14 (6), p.2539-2550
Main Authors: Wang, Zhi, Xie, Ruiheng, Shi, Qishuo, Li, Yafeng, Chang, Jin, Yuan, Jing, Gong, Hui, Chen, Jianwei
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The use of combined optical imaging and tissue sectioning has potential for use in visualizing heart-wide fine structures at single-cell resolution. However, existing tissue preparation methods fail to generate ultrathin cavity-containing cardiac tissue slices with minimal deformation. This study developed an efficient vacuum-assisted tissue embedding method to prepare high-filled, agarose-embedded whole-heart tissue. Utilizing optimized vacuum parameters, we achieved 94% filled whole-heart tissue with the thinnest cut slice of 5 µm. We subsequently imaged a whole mouse heart sample using vibratome-integrated fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography (fMOST) with a voxel size of 0.32 µm × 0.32 µm × 1 µm. The imaging results indicated that the vacuum-assisted embedding method enabled whole-heart tissue to withstand long-term thin cutting while ensuring that slices were consistent and of high quality.
ISSN:2156-7085
2156-7085
DOI:10.1364/BOE.488766