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MEDICAL: CONDITIONS: HEART :
MEDICAL: RESEARCH:
Researchers Develop Innovative Imaging System
to Study Sudden Cardiac Arrest



Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:24:45 -0400
From: "NIH OLIB (NIH/OD)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:  Researchers Develop Innovative Imaging System
to Study Sudden Cardiac Arrest



U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News



National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/>



For Immediate Release: Friday, October 30, 2009



CONTACT:

NHLBI Office of Communications

301-496-4236

e-mail:

[log in to unmask]




RESEARCHERS DEVELOP INNOVATIVE IMAGING SYSTEM
TO STUDY SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST



NHLBI Recovery Act Funds Will Advance Understanding, Could Lead to 
Exploration of Potential New Treatments


A research team at Vanderbilt University has developed an innovative 
optical system to simultaneously image electrical activity and metabolic 
properties in the same region of a heart, to study the complex mechanisms 
that lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Tested in animal models, the system 
could dramatically advance scientists' understanding of the relationship 
between metabolic disorders and heart rhythm disturbances in humans that 
can lead to cardiac arrest and death, and provide a platform for testing 
new treatments to prevent or stop potentially fatal irregular heartbeats, 
known as arrhythmias.


The research is supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood 
Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health.


The design and use of the dual camera system is described in the Nov.1 
issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Additional support for the 
project has also been provided by the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative 
Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE), the American Heart 
Association, and the Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute 
for Advanced Study.


"The challenge in understanding cardiac rhythm disorders is to discern the 
dynamic relationship between multiple cardiac variables," said one of the 
coauthors of the paper and the project's principal investigator, John P. 
Wikswo, Ph.D., Gordon A. Cain University Professor and VIIBRE director. 
"This dual camera system opens up a new window for correlating metabolic 
and electrophysiological events, which are usually studied independently."


The 11-year-old research project would have been terminated this year due 
to lack of funding, according to Wikswo. But a $566,000 American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act grant from the NHLBI is enabling the 13-member 
research team to continue developing and testing the innovative optical 
system. Recovery Act funds are also allowing the team to purchase a pair 
of $60,000 high-speed and highly sensitive digital cameras to record the 
changes in the metabolic and electrical activity of isolated cardiac 
tissue using low-intensity fluorescent dyes under conditions associated 
with heart failure, ischemia, fibrillation and other pathological 
circumstances.


"Through the Recovery Act, the NHLBI is able to support promising research 
to develop and enhance innovative technologies to help us better 
understand the complex mechanisms involved in potentially fatal conditions 
such as sudden cardiac arrest," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, 
M.D. "This research will allow us to better understand how to prevent and 
treat life-threatening cardiac rhythm disturbances and potentially save 
thousands of lives every year."


Each year, 250,000 to 450,000 people die in the United States as a result 
of sudden cardiac arrest, a condition that is triggered by arrhythmia. 
Usually, a complex series of electrical and metabolic changes precede 
sudden cardiac arrest.



The Vanderbilt researchers created and tested an innovative way to 
visualize the electrical activity of the heart in relation to its 
structure and changing metabolic state under different pathological 
conditions. Their multimodal cardiac imaging technique uses a two-camera 
approach to integrate electrophysiological imaging with optical 
fluorescence imaging of metabolic activity associated with damaged heart 
tissue and tachycardia, or accelerated heart rate. The biochemical and 
electrochemical studies of heart tissue under controlled conditions will 
enhance scientists' understanding of electrometabolic cardiac disorders 
and their clinical treatment.


The advantages of this imaging system over others include rapid setup, 
two-color image separation, high spatial resolution, and an optional 
software camera calibration routine that eliminates the need for precise 
camera alignment. The authors provide a detailed description of a camera 
calibration procedure along with multiple examples.


In addition, the multimodal imaging system will be a less-invasive, 
instrumental tool in helping scientists discover and test safe and 
effective ways to prevent or treat arrhythmias. Current treatments include 
medications that can produce undesirable side effects and the implantable 
cardioverter defibrillator, a small device that's placed under the skin in 
the chest and uses electrical pulses or shocks to help control 
life-threatening arrhythmias.


More information about NIH's Recovery Act grant funding opportunities can 
be found at



<http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/>



To track the progress of HHS activities funded through the Recovery Act, 
visit www.hhs.gov/recovery. To track all federal funds provided through 
the Recovery Act, visit



<http://www.recovery.gov>



To arrange an interview with an NHLBI spokesperson, please contact the


NHLBI Communications Office at


(301) 496-4236


or


<[log in to unmask]>


To interview Dr. Wikswo and other investigators from Vanderbilt 
University, contact


615-343-6803


Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and 
Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to 
the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, 
lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also 
administers national health education campaigns on women and heart 
disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press 
releases and other materials are available online at



<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov>



The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research 
Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal 
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational 
medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures 
for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its 
programs, visit



<http://www.nih.gov>



RESOURCES:



-- Paper published in Experimental Biology and Medicine: The Potential of 
Dual Camera Systems for Multimodal Imaging of Cardiac Electrophysiology 
and Metabolism


-- Profile of John P. Wikswo, Ph.D., and the grant "Correlative Multimodal 
Imaging of Cardiac Electrophysiology and Metabolism"


<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/recovery/researchers/index.php?id=177>



-- What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?


<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/scda/scda_whatis.html>,



-- What is an Arrhythmia?,


<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/arr/arr_whatis.html>



-- What Is an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator? ,


<http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/icd/icd_whatis.html>




The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research 
Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal 
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational 
medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures 
for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its 
programs, visit



<http://www.nih.gov>




##




This NIH News Release is available online at:
<http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2009/nhlbi-30.htm>.





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