Table 1.

Comparison of cryosection preparation of skinned papillary muscle strips with other methods

Preparations from mouse heart	Source	Yield	Dissection injury	Sarcomere Length measurement	Uniform cross-sectional area	Sample requirement	Analysis of myofibril proteins
Trabeculae	Right ventricle	Low	Minimum	Laser diffraction or microscopic images	No	Fresh isolation in limited time	Yes
Dissecting papillary muscles	Left ventricle	Skill dependent	Yes	Depending on size	Skill dependent	Fresh isolation in limited time	Yes
Blended myofibril	Left ventricle	High	Yes, especially mechanical stretch	Brightfield microscopic images	No	Frozen or fresh muscle	Limited
Enzymatic isolated cardiomyocyte	Left ventricle	High	Proteolytic protein damage	Brightfield microscopic images	No	Fresh isolation in limited time	Very limited
Strips of frozen papillary muscle sections	Left ventricle	High	Minimum	Brightfield microscopic images	Yes	Frozen or fresh muscle	Yes