Copyright © 2021 JoVE Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License jove.com May 2021 • 171 • e62595 • Page 1 of 17 Quantification of Mouse Heart Left Ventricular Function, Myocardial Strain, and Hemodynamic Forces by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mariah R. R. Daal 1 , Gustav J. Strijkers 1,2 , Claudia Calcagno 2 , Ruslan R. Garipov 3 , Rob C. I. Wüst 1,4 , David Hautemann 5 , Bram F. Coolen 1 1 Department of Biomedical Engineering & Physics, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Amsterdam 2 BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 3 MR Solutions Ltd. 4 Laboratory for Myology, Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 5 Medis medical imaging systems B.V. Corresponding Author Mariah R. R. Daal m.r.daal@amsterdamumc.nl Citation Daal, M.R.R., Strijkers, G.J., Calcagno, C., Garipov, R.R., Wüst, R.C.I., Hautemann, D., Coolen, B.F. Quantification of Mouse Heart Left Ventricular Function, Myocardial Strain, and Hemodynamic Forces by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging. J. Vis. Exp. (171), e62595, doi:10.3791/62595 (2021). Date Published May 24, 2021 DOI 10.3791/62595 URL jove.com/video/62595 Abstract Mouse models have contributed significantly to understanding genetic and physiological factors involved in healthy cardiac function, how perturbations result in pathology, and how myocardial diseases may be treated. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has become an indispensable tool for a comprehensive in vivo assessment of cardiac anatomy and function. This protocol shows detailed measurements of mouse heart left ventricular function, myocardial strain, and hemodynamic forces using 7-Tesla CMR. First, animal preparation and positioning in the scanner are demonstrated. Survey scans are performed for planning imaging slices in various short- and long-axis views. A series of prospective ECG-triggered short-axis (SA) movies (or CINE images) are acquired covering the heart from apex to base, capturing end-systolic and end-diastolic phases. Subsequently, single-slice, retrospectively gated CINE images are acquired in a midventricular SA view, and in 2-, 3-, and 4-chamber views, to be reconstructed into high-temporal resolution CINE images using custom-built and open-source software. CINE images are subsequently analyzed using dedicated CMR image analysis software. Delineating endomyocardial and epicardial borders in SA end-systolic and end- diastolic CINE images allows for the calculation of end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes, ejection fraction, and cardiac output. The midventricular SA CINE images are delineated for all cardiac time frames to extract a detailed volume-time curve. Its time derivative allows for the calculation of the diastolic function as the ratio of the early filling and atrial contraction waves. Finally, left ventricular endocardial walls in the 2-, 3-, and 4-chamber views are delineated using feature-tracking, from which