System-independent quantitative cardiac CT perfusion

System independent quantitative cardiac CT perfusion Summary BioInVisionIncand Case Western Reserve University researchers will develop software for quantitative analysis of cardiac CT perfusionCCTPcreating an important tool for evaluation of cardiovascular diseaseWith this productcardiologists will be able to identify functional flow deficits in coronary artery territoriesWhen one combines functional myocardial blood flowMBFwith coronary anatomy from computed tomography angiographyCTAit provides needed information on the physiologic significance of a stenosisThe CTA CCTP combo could provide an ideal gateway exam for deciding whether to send a patient for percutaneous invasive coronary angiography and potential interventione gstentingIn additionif flow is low and no stenosis is presentit will suggest microvascular diseasea very prevalent ailment of growing concernespecially among women and in diabetesCT compares favorably to all other non invasive cardiovascular imaging techniquesSPECTPETand MRIIt is available in many settingsincluding emergency departmentsIt provides both MBF and reliable coronary anatomynot available in any other single modalityIt has excellent resolution enabling detection of endocardial perfusion deficitthought to be an early disease indicator that is impossible to assess with SPECTCT is cheaper and has higher patient throughput than MRI or PETWith inclusion of MBFCT would have an excellent opportunity to disrupt the diagnostic pathway leading to percutaneous interventiona pathway now dominated by SPECT myocardial imagingwhich includes zero information about coronary anatomyTo achieve reliableaccurate CT MBF measurementswe will invoke innovations to reduce beam hardening and to make reliable estimates of flowCurrentlyCT perfusion is done on different CT machines with manufacturersproprietary softwareusing algorithms that can give erroneous MBFsApplicable to any commercial scannerour solution would harmonize measurements across acquisition systems providing trustworthystandardized measurements to cliniciansthereby improving management of cardiovascular patients Narrative We will develop software to enable reliable evaluation of blood flow in heart tissue using CT imagingWith successour project could lead to an improved gateway examination that could reduce unnecessary invasive coronary angiographythereby reducing costspatient discomfortpatient riskand possibly unnecessary interventional therapies