This chapter summarizes regional cardiac functional studies using MRI that
span the past 25 years. In addition to the comparison of the three major MRI techniques
that achieve detailed studies of myocardial mechanics, an extensive reference to
DENSE-MRI and its imaging and image-processing features is presented. The mouse
paradigm, as a direct manifestation of international efforts for image-based phenotyping
in health, disease and post-transgenetic modification, is also introduced. The
appropriateness of extrapolations of inferences drawn from mouse studies to man are
well-justified from presented evidence on isometric and allometric scaling of global and
regional cardiac functional indices, however, noted mismatches of the fiber structure,
force-frequency and energetic/metabolic reserves exist between the two species. While
such arguments limit the range of possible pathological models that can associate
human and murine disease, the mouse still remains a potentially attractive animal model
for cardiovascular research today.
Keywords: Mouse paradigm, rat, heart, myocardium, cardiovascular disease,
MRI, tagging, DENSE, HARP, Functional quantification, regional cardiac
function, image-based phenotyping.