Myocardial cells grown in culture exhibit dramatic visible changes in beating characteristics when they are presented with various types of chemotherapeutic agents. A technique for quantifying these changes is of paramount importance. Because of the fragile nature of these cells in culture the measurement modality must be totally non-invasive. A video tracking system currently used to quantify the myocardial depressant effects of septic serum on rat neonate myocardial cell cultures will be adapted to this experimental setup. This system can measure the displacement of an individual cell as it beats. We intend to enhance this system by measuring the first and second derivatives, which will yield the velocity and acceleration of the beating cell. It is hoped that the acceleration can be incorporated into an estimate of the force of contraction. This project is Complete. The device as described above was modified and delivered to the senior investigator. The device is functioning well and experiments are underway that we anticipate will provide further understanding of myocardial contractility.
