A 3D Video of the Embryonic Heartbeat

Researchers at the University of Houston Texas have built a new imaging technology they call optical-coherence tomography which has captured the highest-resolution ever live-video of a 3D beating heart in an embryo.

The video was made using an imaging technology called optical-coherence tomography. Though it looks grainy, this and other video of the developing heart made by the Houston group are some of the best ever taken. “These are the first images at high resolution of the beating [mammalian] heart,” says Kirill Larin, assistant professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering at the University of Houston. “You can see the blood vessels, the heart chambers.” The current resolution of the technique is six micrometers and Larin expects to get it down to two.

via Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors’ blog: A 3D Video of the Embryonic Heartbeat.

This story written by Randall Hand

Randall Hand is a visualization scientist working for a federal research lab, aiding researchers to discover the insights buried within their terabyte datasets generated on some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. He also runs VizWorld.com .