Fig. 2

Individual time points from animated particle traces in a cranial view of cardiac structures. Particles are emitted from the main pulmonary artery (MPA) and ascending aorta (AAo), and color-coded based on speed of streaming blood. The majority of MPA flow bypasses the lungs (pulmonary arteries not visualized), shunting through the ductus arteriosus (DA) into the descending aorta and the rest of the body. The highest blood speed from the AAo passes into the brachiocephalic trunk. Animated versions of particle traces can be viewed over two cardiac cycles in Additional file 2: Movie 1