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Left atrial ligation (LAL) of the chick embryonic heart is a model of the hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) where a purely mechanical intervention without genetic or pharmacological manipulation is employed to initiate cardiac malformation. It is thus a key model for understanding the biomechanical origins of HLHS. However, its myocardial mechanics and subsequent gene expressions are not well-understood. We performed finite element (FE) modeling and single-cell RNA sequencing to address this. 4D high-frequency ultrasound imaging of chick embryonic hearts at HH25 (ED 4.5) were obtained for both LAL and control. Motion tracking was performed to quantify strains. Image-based FE modeling was conducted, using the direction of the smallest strain eigenvector as the orientations of contractions, the Guccione active tension model and a Fung-type transversely isotropic passive stiffness model that was determined via micro-pipette aspiration. Single-cell RNA sequencing of left ventricle (LV) heart tissues was performed for normal and LAL embryos at HH30 (ED 6.5) and differentially expressed genes (DEG) were identified.After LAL, LV thickness increased by 33%, strains in the myofiber direction increased by 42%, while stresses in the myofiber direction decreased by 50%. These were likely related to the reduction in ventricular preload and underloading of the LV due to LAL. RNA-seq data revealed potentially related DEG in myocytes, including mechano-sensing genes (Cadherins, NOTCH1, etc.), myosin contractility genes (MLCK, MLCP, etc.), calcium signaling genes (PI3K, PMCA, etc.), and genes related to fibrosis and fibroelastosis (TGF-β, BMP, etc.). We elucidated the changes to the myocardial biomechanics brought by LAL and the corresponding changes to myocyte gene expressions. These data may be useful in identifying the mechanobiological pathways of HLHS.

Congenital heart malformations occur to substantial number of pregnancies. Studies showed that abnormal flow biomechanical environments could lead to malformations, making it important to understand the biomechanical environment of the developing heart. We performed 4D high-frequency ultrasound scans of chick embryonic hearts at HH25 to study the biomechanics of the whole heart (atria and ventricle). A novel and high-fidelity motion estimation technique, based on temporal motion model and non-rigid image registration algorithm, allowed automatic tracking of fluid-structure boundaries from scan images, and supported flow simulations. Results demonstrated that atrial appendages were the most contractile portion of the atria, having disproportionately high contribution to atrial blood pumping for its volume in the atria. However, the atria played a small role in blood pumping compared to the ventricle, as it had much lower ejection energy expenditure, and as the ventricle appeared to be able to draw inflow from the veins directly during late diastole. Spatially and temporally averaged wall shear stresses (WSS) for various cardiac structures were 0.062–0.068 Pa, but spatial-averaged WSS could be as high as 0.54 Pa in the RV. WSS was especially elevated at the atrial inlet, atrioventricular junction, regions near to the outflow tract, and at dividing lines between the left and right atrium and left and right side of the ventricle, where septation had begun and the lumen had narrowed. Elevated WSS could serve as biomechanics stimulation for proper growth and development.

The embryonic outflow tract (OFT) eventually undergoes aorticopulmonary septation to form the aorta and pulmonary artery, and it is hypothesized that blood flow mechanical forces guide this process. We performed detailed studies of the geometry, wall motions, and fluid dynamics of the HH25 chick embryonic OFT just before septation, using noninvasive 4D high-frequency ultrasound and computational flow simulations. The OFT exhibited expansion and contraction waves propagating from proximal to distal end, with periods of luminal collapse at locations of the two endocardial cushions. This, combined with periods of reversed flow, resulted in the OFT cushions experiencing wall shear stresses (WSS or flow drag forces) with elevated oscillatory characteristics, which could be important to signal for further development of cushions into valves and septum. Furthermore, the OFT exhibits interesting double-helical flow during systole, where a pair of helical flow structures twisted about each other from the proximal to distal end. This coincided with the location of the future aorticopulmonary septum, which also twisted from the proximal to distal end, suggesting that this flow pattern may be guiding OFT septation.

Left atrial ligation (LAL) of the chick embryonic heart at HH21 is a model of the hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) disease, demonstrating morphological and hemodynamic features similar to human HLHS cases. Since it relies on mechanical intervention without genetic or pharmacological manipulations, it is a good model for understanding the biomechanics origins of such HLHS malformations. To date, however, the fluid mechanical environment of this model is poorly understood. In the current study, we performed 4D ultrasound imaging of LAL and normal chick embryonic hearts and 4D cardiac flow simulations to help shed light on the mechanical environment that may lead to the HLHS morphology. Results showed that the HH25 LAL atrial function was compromised, and velocities in the ventricle were reduced. The HH25 LAL ventricles developed a more triangular shape with a sharper apex, and in some cases, the atrioventricular junction shifted medially. These changes led to more sluggish flow near the ventricular free wall and apex, where more fluid particles moved in an oscillatory manner with the motion of the ventricular wall, while slowly being washed out, resulting in lower wall shear stresses and higher oscillatory indices. Consequent to these flow conditions, at HH28, even before septation is complete, the left ventricle was found to be hypoplastic while the right ventricle was found to be larger in compensation. Our results suggest that the low and oscillatory flow near the left side of the heart may play a role in causing the HLHS morphology in the LAL model. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10237-021-01447-3.

Accurate cardiac motion estimation from medical images such as ultrasound is important for clinical evaluation. We present a novel regularisation layer for cardiac motion estimation that will be applied after image registration and demonstrate its effectiveness. The regularisation utilises a spatio-temporal model of motion, b-splines of Fourier, to fit to displacement fields from pairwise image registration. In the process, it enforces spatial and temporal smoothness and consistency, cyclic nature of cardiac motion, and better adherence to the stroke volume of the heart. Flexibility is further given for inclusion of any set of registration displacement fields. The approach gave high accuracy. When applied to human adult Ultrasound data from a Cardiac Motion Analysis Challenge (CMAC), the proposed method is found to have 10% lower tracking error over CMAC participants. Satisfactory cardiac motion estimation is also demonstrated on other data sets, including human fetal echocardiography, chick embryonic heart ultrasound images, and zebrafish embryonic microscope images, with the average Dice coefficient between estimation motion and manual segmentation at 0.82–0.87. The approach of performing regularisation as an add-on layer after the completion of image registration is thus a viable option for cardiac motion estimation that can still have good accuracy. Since motion estimation algorithms are complex, dividing up regularisation and registration can simplify the process and provide flexibility. Further, owing to a large variety of existing registration algorithms, such an approach that is usable on any algorithm may be useful.

Past literature has provided evidence that a normal mechanical force environment of blood flow may guide normal development while an abnormal environment can lead to congenital malformations, thus warranting further studies on embryonic cardiovascular flow dynamics. In the current study, we developed a non-invasive 4D high-frequency ultrasound technique, and use it to analyze cardiovascular organ dynamics and flow dynamics. Three chick embryos at stage HH25 were scanned with high frequency ultrasound in cine-B-mode at multiple planes spaced at 0.05 mm. 4D images of the heart and nearby arteries were generated via temporal and spatial correlation coupled with quadratic mean ensemble averaging. Dynamic mesh CFD was performed to understand the flow dynamics in the ventricle of the 2 hearts. Our imaging technique has sufficiently high resolution to enable organ dynamics quantification and CFD. Fine structures such as the aortic arches and details such as the cyclic distension of the carotid arteries were captured. The outflow tract completely collapsed during ventricular diastole, possible serving the function of a valve to prevent regurgitation. CFD showed that ventricular wall shear stress (WSS) were in the range of 0.1-0.5 Pa, and that the left side of the common ventricle experienced lower WSS than the right side. The pressure gradient from the inlet to the outlet of the ventricle was positive over most of the cardiac cycle, and minimal regurgitation flow was observed, despite the absence of heart valves. We developed a new image-based CFD method to elucidate cardiac organ dynamics and flow dynamics of embryonic hearts. The embryonic heart appeared to be optimized to generate net forward flow despite the absence of valves, and the WSS environment appeared to be side-specific.

Dielectric elastomer is a class of soft actuators with exceptionally high strain capabilities and energy density. It is being studied for wide range of various applications and has been hypothesized to be a good material for biomedical blood pumps. We performed experimental characterization of a simple dielectric elastomer fluid pump to test this feasibility. We achieved substantial flow rates (10 mL/s) and actuation pressure (45 mm Hg) and found that dielectric elastomer fluid pump performance can exhibit significant resonance effects, with drastic reduction in performance at non-resonance frequencies. The elastomer, VHB™, a soft acrylic polymer, is frequently used to fabricate dielectric elastomer due to high deformation abilities and dielectric constant but has a well-known shortcoming of high viscoelasticity, which severely limited the dielectric elastomer pumps’ performance except at very low frequencies. In this study, we demonstrated that the introduction of a thin elastic and non-viscous layer to the VHB, such as latex, to form a composite dielectric elastomer could address this limitation. The composite dielectric elastomer pump has an increased resonance frequency, significantly improved performances at frequencies of 0.75–2 Hz, and higher maximum achievable actuation volume, flow rate, actuation pressures, and power output. Remaining challenges of realizing a dielectric elastomer blood pump are discussed.