17-02 METABOLITE AND FLUOROCARBON FOR CARDIAC NMR INAGING

OUR LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP OUR PATENTED TECHNOLOGY WHICH PERMITS US TO VISUALIZE EARLY LOCAL METABOLIC ALTERATIONS IN DISEASE OR INJURY IN ORGAN SYSTEMS INTO A BROAD-BASED DIAGNOSTIC MODALITY. OUR IMMEDIATE & PRESSING AIM IS TO DEVELOP OUR TECHNOLOGY FOR THE VISUALIZATION OF EARLY MYOCARDIAL INJURY INTO A CLINICALLY RELEVANT APPROACH TO NON-INVASIVE EVALUATION OF MYOCARDIAL VIABILITY. USING EXISTING AND WIDELY AVAILABLE CLINICAL NMR SYSTEMS IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR PATENTED TECHNOLOGY FOR THE DELIVERY OF OXYGEN SEVENTEEN AND USING A FLUOROCARBON CARRIER FOLLOWED BY THE OBSERVATION OF METABOLITES OF OXYGEN SEVENTEEN AT METABOLICALLY ALTERED SITES, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO OBSERVE A LOCAL REGION OF MYOCARDIAL INJURY FOLLOWING REVERSIBLE OCCLUSION OF THE LEFT ANTERIOR DESCENDING ARTERY IN THE ANESTHETIZED DOG. CLEARLY THE BROAD RAMIFICATIONS OR IMAGING ORGAN SITES WITH ABNORMAL METABOLIC ACITVITY AS A PRECUSOR OF THE DISTORTIONS OF WATER DISTRIBUTION CAN PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE EARLY STAGES OF ORGAN DYSFUNCTION. OUR METHODOLOGY DEPENDS ON THE DIFFERENTIAL CONVERSION OF OXYGEN SEVENTEEN AT METABOLICALLY ALTERED LOCAL SITE AS A POTENTIAL KINETIC ENHANCER OF THE CONVERSION IS AT PRESENT UNKNOWN AND WILL BE EXPLORED. ITS POTENTIAL AS A MESSENGER OF LOCAL TISSUE ABNORMALITY WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED BY FLUORINE IMAGING.