PULMONARY ARTERY PRESSURE

A NONINVASIVE ESTIMATOR OF PULMONARY ARTERY (PA) PRESSURE ISA RECOGNIZED MEDICAL NEED. A NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS OBTAIN-ABLE FROM RIGHT-HEART DOPPLER ULTRASOUND STUDIES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO RELATE TO PA PRESSURE, ALTHOUGH THE RELATIONSHIPS ARE NOT FULLY DELINEATED AND THE MEASUREMENTS ARE CUMBERSOMEAND IMPRECISE. A PROTOTYPE DOPPLER ECHOCARDIOGRAPH HAS BEENDEVELOPED; THE HIGHER SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO OF THIS INSTRU- MENT WOULD IMPROVE SIGNAL IDENTIFICATION AND ALLOW AUTOMATICDATA PROCESSING. THE AIM OF THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO IDENTIFY THE MOST USEFUL MEASUREMENTS, USING THE PROTOTYPE DOPPLER INSTRUMENT AND BOTH RETROSPECTIVE AND PROSPECTIVE PATIENT MATERIAL. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT WOULD INCLUDE THE COMBINATION OF MEASUREMENTS INTO AN ALGORITHM WITH HIGH PREDICTIVE ACCURACY AND ITS PROSPECTIVE TESTING. THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP A COMPACT, INEXPENSIVE, COMPUTERIZED DOPPLER ECHOCARDIOGRAPH DEDICATED TO PREDICTION OF PA PRESSURE AND INTENDED FOR USE IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS.