Over the past 200 years the Langendorff has continued to evolve.
In this excerpt from her latest Langendorff webinar, Dr Melanie White, an isolated heart expert from the University of Sydney, explores how the system has significantly changed in the time she's been running her lab.
Related: Future-proofing ex-vivo perfusion – updated approaches to historical principles
The Progress of Data Acquisition in Melanie’s Lab
2001 - Grass Instruments
This analog data acquisition device used ink and paper to monitor LVDP, heart rate, and RPP. Researchers needed to mark on the paper when variables were altered, and during analysis would manually sift back through these reams of paper.
2008 - PowerLab digital data acquisition
The original ADInstruments product; PowerLab. The PowerLab takes analog physiological data and digitizes it for automatic data output and analysis. Reducing resource and time costs, and increasing the accuracy of heart assessments and data analysis.
2023 - PowerLab C
The newest product in the PowerLab line; PowerLab C. This highly portable and modular PowerLab offers sub-microsecond synchronization and up to 32 input channels per PowerLab C.
Related: Why we built the PowerLab C and C Series devices.
The Progress of the Langendorff in Melanie’s Lab
2001 - The original Radnotti System
This incredibly complex system relied on many ‘backyard hacks’ to keep it functional. A constant perfusion at 80mmHg was possible but required a very tall structure and the assistance of gravity. This caused some health and safety issues, especially for the shorter members of the lab.
2008 - Panlab System
This replacement for the Radnotti system was a compact system ready to use straight out of the box. It allowed the team to use constant pressure or constant flow, a choice that wasn’t available to them previously. However, the need for inline filters, the dead volume between the reservoir and junction block, and the progressive crazing of the Perspex eventually made the system unusable.
2023 - ADInstruments Rodent Langendorff
The best of both worlds; the ADInstruments Rodent Langendorff is compact, ready to use out of the box, and made of high-quality borosilicate glassware. This upgrade is also highly modular and autoclavable, enabling the team to continue making progress with this nearly 200-year-old research technique.
Related: Why we redesigned the Langendorff Apparatus
Dr. Melanie White
ARC DECRA Research Fellow
School of Medicine
University of Sydney
About the speaker...
Dr. Melanie White is a member of the Charles Perkins Society, a Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow and teaches senior students in the discipline of Pathology at the University of Sydney School of Medicine.
Her research interests include understanding more about how cells adapt to their changing environment by altering proteins using post-translational modifications. Her team’s work centers on asking these questions in clinically relevant models of myocardial ischemia (heart attack), type 2 diabetes and obesity.