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Volume 71, Issue 73,
Monday, January 23, 2006
News Prof puts 'Time Bomb' under UH microscope by KELLY J. SANTOS
The Computational Biomedicine Laboratory (CBL) at UH, led by associate professor Ioannis A. Kakadiaris, is helping pave the way for the elimination of heart attacks. "I am a man on a mission right now, and the ability of bringing in computer science and medicine together is a personal goal," Kakadiaris said. "In our department, we are bringing a new class of scientists that will be well versed not only in computer science, but also versed in life sciences. They will be able to bring their computer science skills to medical problems and ultimately affect people's lives." Researchers have developed vasa vasorum imaging, a technique that uses intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to help detect the ticking "time-bomb," or plaque in arteries that are vulnerable to rupture. "For the first time, we have the ability to see the existence of new vessels in the blood," Kakadiaris said. "That will tell us if there is increased inflammation in the area and that might mean that the plaque is inflamed." The Division of Information and Intelligent Systems of the National Science Foundation (NSF) have awarded Kakadiaris a three-year, $556,350 grant to aid him and his department in their research. "This is exactly the outcome we had hoped to foster when we funded this project," James C. French, NSF program director, said in a release. The imaging procedure works in three steps. First, an ultrasound catheter is placed in the vessel, usually close to a suspicious plaque area. Gas-filled nanobubbles are then injected and absorbed by the vasa vasorum, the micro vessels in the arteries. The contrasting agents illuminate the vasa vasorum so that they can be analyzed under ultrasound. The vasa vasorum imaging will better help doctors locate vulnerable plaque. Most people will live for years with some plaques, the buildups of cholesterol and fatty deposits in the arteries. However, the plaque that grows unstable and inflamed is prone to rupturing, thus it's name, "vulnerable plaque." The rupturing creates a blood clot that causes a heart attack. Being able to locate this dangerous plaque is the mission for Kakadiaris and researchers around the world. As part of the Ultimate IVUS Collaborative Project at UH, Kakadiaris' lab is also working with the University of Athens in Greece, Columbia University and Aarhus University. Their effort is supported by the Association for Eradication of Heart Attack (AEHA), a non-profit organization that promotes education and research related to the prevention, detection and treatment of heart attacks. "Eradicating heart attacks is not going to happen by one group. It is going to be the collaboration of all the advances that happen nationally and internationally," Kakadiaris said. "These efforts and these studies are breaking into the world of science that is needed in terms of eradicating heart attacks, along with the proper education of the public." Every year, about 1.5 million Americans experience a heart attack and about half of them die, Kakadiaris said. For most of that half, the heart attack is the first and only symptom. "Even for presidents who have access to the best medical care, cardiovascular disease can go unnoticed," Kakadiaris said referring to former President Bill Clinton's heart trouble. The Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education program, sponsored by AEHA, calls for men aged 45 and older and women 55 and older to undergo a comprehensive vascular health assessment. The SHAPE program consists of three steps. The first one is noninvasive and consists of exams based on the blood and factors such as family history. If the person is found to be at risk they move to the next step. If through noninvasive imaging in step two, the person is found to be at risk they move on to the third step, the invasive intravascular ultrasound imaging. The steps increase from less accurate to more accurate, from less expensive to more expensive, and from noninvasive to invasive, Kakadiaris said. Clinical studies using the intravascular ultrasounds
have only been performed on patients in Europe, but clinical trials in
the U.S. will begin soon, Kakadiaris said.
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