Table 2.

Imaging and reconstruction approaches in the intravital heart.

	Image acquisition	Advantages	Limitations	References
Image gating	• Laser scanning microscopy • 1–16 fps • Z-stack • External pacing of cardiac and respiratory cycles • Prospective or retrospective gating	• High spatial and temporal resolution • Wide field of view	• External control of cardiac and respiratory cycles may induce abnormalities • Restricted to stable portions of cardiac cycle	(70, 71, 73, 77)
Free running	• Laser scanning microscopy • 15–30 fps • Single z-plane	• Capture fast dynamic events	• Motion artifact limits quantification of beat-to-beat dynamics • Restricted to single z-plane	(33, 69, 70, 72)
Cardiorespiratory reconstruction	• Laser scanning microscopy • 30 fps • Z-stack • Nearest neighbor cardio-respiratory phase-space reconstruction	• High spatial and temporal resolution • Wide field of view • Image volumes visualized across full cardiac and respiratory cycles • No external pacing	• Inability to visualize beat-to-beat dynamics	(74–76)