Strokes and heart attacks often strike without warning. But a unique application of a medical camera developed by a 天美影视传媒 mechanical engineer could one day help physicians know who is at risk for a cardiovascular event by providing a better view of potential problem areas.
A from UW and University of Michigan researchers in Nature Biomedical Engineering reports proof-of-concept results for this new imaging platform for atherosclerosis.
鈥淭he camera actually goes inside the vessels,鈥� says first author , a Michigan Medicine resident neurosurgeon. 鈥淲e can see with very high resolution the surface of the vessels and any lesions, such as a ruptured plaque, that could cause a stroke. This technology could possibly find the 鈥榮moking gun鈥� lesion in patients with strokes of unknown cause, and may even be able to show which silent, but at-risk, plaques may cause a cardiovascular event in the future.鈥�
The scanning fiber endoscope, or SFE, used in the study was invented and developed by co-author and UW mechanical engineering research professor He originally to clearly image cancer cells that are currently invisible with clinical endoscopes.
The Michigan Medicine team used the instrument for a new application: acquiring high-quality images of possible stroke-causing regions of the carotid artery that may not be detected with conventional radiological techniques.
Researchers generated images of human arteries using the SFE, which illuminates tissues with multiple laser beams and digitally reconstructs high-definition images to determine the severity of atherosclerosis and other qualities of the vessel wall.
鈥淚n addition to discovering the cause of the stroke, the endoscope can also assist neurosurgeons with therapeutic interventions by guiding stent placement, releasing drugs and biomaterials and helping with surgeries,鈥� Seibel says.
In addition, the SFE uses fluorescence indicators to show key biological features associated with increased risk of stroke and heart attacks in the future.
鈥淭he ability to identify and monitor the biological markers that render a plaque unstable and at risk for rupture could enable the detection of individuals within high-risk populations who are most likely to suffer from cardiovascular events, and therefore benefit the most from preventive treatment during the asymptomatic stage,鈥� says professor of neurosurgery at the University of Michigan Medical School and a senior author on the new paper.
鈥淚n addition, plaque-specific data could help physicians modulate treatment intensity of atherosclerosis, which is currently based on systemic surrogates such us cholesterol and blood sugar levels and occurrence of cardiovascular events such as stroke or myocardial infarction鈥�
All research is in the pre-clinical phase.
The research was funded by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and National Institutes of Health.
Co-authors include UW mechanical engineering doctoral student and University of Michigan鈥檚 Quan Zhou, Arlene Smith, Carlos Murga-Zamalloa, David Gordon, Jon McHugh, Lili Zhao, Michael M. Wang, Aditya Pandey, Jie Xu, Jifeng Zhang, Y. Eugene Chen and Thomas D. Wang.
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For more information, contact Seibel at eseibel@uw.edu or University of Michigan authors through Haley Otman at 734 764-2220.
This release was adapted from a University of Michigan .