10 August 2011
Patients with heart disease are being given renewed hope through groundbreaking research currently taking place in Sheffield.
Researchers at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield are developing enhanced computer software to assess patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) – the narrowing of the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart.
CAD is the most common cause of death and serious illness in the UK, with an estimated 2.6 million people living with the condition.
The research is looking at ways in which computer software can be used to build a fuller picture of a patient’s heart and arteries than is presently possible, helping to remove subjective variation in assessment and diagnosis and reduce errors, meaning patients could be diagnosed and treated quicker and more accurately.
Instead of using the traditional method of X-rays and ‘dye’, the researchers are developing computer programmes that can read a reconstructed set of 3D images of the whole arterial ‘tree’. This will lead to clinicians being able to objectively decide if narrowings need treatment and to predict the changes that will occur after intervention.
To do this, volunteer patients who are undergoing routine angioplasty (widening of blocked or narrowed arteries to the heart) are having the 3D images recorded but also having measurements of flow and pressure across the lesions (abnormal tissue) made with a special probe, which is passed into the arteries, so that the software can be developed.
Ultimately, if the development of the software is successful, patients will not need the probe to be passed down their arteries, and will have the decision-making based on objective measurement from the images alone, eliminating human error. This will provide consistency and reassurance for patient and clinician alike.
The new software could potentially benefit a large proportion of the 200,000 NHS patients who have an angiogram every year in the UK.
Dr Julian Gunn, Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, is leading the research. He said: “This is exciting research that has the potential to enhance our ability to diagnose and treat heart disease more quickly and accurately.
“With the sets of 3D images that we are developing together with measurements from a probe, it will be possible to analyse patients’ arteries in much more detail than is otherwise possible. All being successful clinicians should eventually be able to make decisions based on images alone, helping them to achieve more accurate and objective decision-making.”
The research is being carried out by a team of cardiologists at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with the Medical Physics team at the University of Sheffield.
Funding for the research was provided by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), through its Research for Innovation, Speculation and Creativity (RISC) programme. It is expected that the study will finish at the end of December.
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