Optical Mapping Image Database

This site contains data from optical mapping experiments. The data was obtained by imaging the surface of cultured monolayers of cardiac myocytes. Optical records are taken using voltage sensitive dyes (di-4-ANEPPS) and calcium sensitive dyes (Fluo-3) with a macroscope designed to capture the maximum amount of light over a relatively large (>10mm diameter) field. Images are collected using a cooled CCD.

All images in this series have a frame rate of 20 frames/s. Each frame represents approximately 1 square cm on the preparation.

For more detail, please check the optical methods page, the data analysis page, or see:

  Bub G, Glass L, Publicover NG, Shrier A.
   Bursting calcium rotors in cultured cardiac myocyte monolayers.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Aug 18;95(17):10283-7.

  (Images of reentry on a different preparation using this apparatus can be seen here.)

How to use this site

The site is a repository of GIF images created from raw data using custom software. The web page uses javascript to present these GIFs as a sequential animation (in the rightmost frame) or as a series of static displays (in the center frame). Preloading the GIFs may take a while, so please be patient when you first load each page.

The site has the following format...

a)	The leftmost frame in the page is an organized contents page. Click the links to display your choice of images. Click the symbol to get brief protocol information on the dataset being viewed.
b)	The main (center) frame displays the GIFs in groups of 12. The links at the bottom of the composite image allow you to page through the data set. Some data sets also have a 'view analysis' link. This loads a machine generated page that has output from the data analysis software.
c)	The top right frame is a javascript animator. Click 'start' to animate the data sequence. The controls at the top of the animator allow you to change the frame rate, the frames it animates (0 to x), and a loop option which forces the animator to repeat. Please let the animation finish before viewing a different data set. If 'loop' is active, deactivate it and let the animation finish. You will get a peculiar sequence of images if the animation is running while it tries to reload.
d)	The bottom right frame gives a computer generated synopsis of the data set viewed. It isn't particularly useful.

ENTER

There is an auxilary page which has a small number of animated gifs, .avi, and mpeg files. If you would rather view the data in those formats , or if the browser you are using has difficulty downloading the GIFs in the main database, that page can be found here .

A page of images for NASPE reviewers is here.

Questions/Comments? Contact:Gil Bub