Cardiac fiber orientation in goat measured with Diffusion Tensor Imaging

We therefore hypothesize that fiber reorientation could be a local adaptive mechanism by which the strain distribution across the cardiac wall is homogenized. To test this hypothesis we measured fiber orientation in normal goat hearts and in goat hearts in which the mechanical load was locally distributed of an infarction. Diffusion Tensor Imaging was used to measure fiber orientation in voxels of 0.4 x 0.4 x 3.0 mm3. Preliminary results of measurements after 10 weeks infarction reveal a disturbance of this characteristic pattern. [In English]