Preparation of left ventricular wall samples for biaxial testing.
(A) The left ventricle (LV) of the rat heart is shown, with the
position of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery, the ligating
suture, the ischemic territory, and the four borderzone injection sites labeled.
(B–C) The septum and lateral-most aspect of the LV wall are excised, and
the remaining anterolateral LV wall is flattened into a square block of tissue.
(D) The LV wall sample is mounted onto the biaxial testing device, aligned along
the circumferential and longitudinal axes of the heart.