Patent ID: 9535057
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. A method of screening agents for the ability to alter heart rate and regularity of heart beat rhythm, which comprises: a. incubating a transparent embryo or larva of a teleost in medium containing testing agent; b. optionally, immobilizing said embryo or larva on a surface; c. videoing the circulation of blood cells of said embryo or larva under a microscope equipped with a camera connected to a recording device; and d. analyzing the video with image analysis software in which moving blood cells within each video frame are detected and quantified, in order to obtain a series of data points from each video frame from either a part of the video or the whole of the video; e. applying power spectral analysis to analyze the series of data points, in order to obtain a cardiac rhythmicity index; wherein the cardiac rhythmicity index is inversely correlated with the regularity of heart beat rhythm.