31 August 2011
BBC Look North recently visited the Trust to produce a piece on some exciting research being carried out into heart disease. The piece, which was shown on 15th August, featured interviews with Consultant Cardiologist Dr Julian Gunn and patient Melvyn Shaw, as well as some eye-catching 3D images of the heart (see example below).
Melvyn, who was the last patient to take part in the trial, has been having treatment with Dr Gunn for heart disease. In an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield he said he thought the treatment he received was “fantastic” and that taking part in the trial was “surely very little to pay back” in return.
Researchers at the Trust and the University of Sheffield, led by Dr Gunn, 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, meaning patients could be diagnosed and treated quicker and more accurately.
Instead of using 'eyeball assessment' of the coronary angiogram (the traditional method of X-rays and ‘dye’), the researchers are developing computer programmes that can read a set of 3D images of the whole ‘arterial tree’. This will lead to clinicians being able to objectively decide if narrowings need treatment.
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 made with a special probe.
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.
Dr 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.”