CRHCT: New Ultrasonic Techniques for Managing Kidney Disease

9708221将开发Insana定量超声(QUS)技术，以检测最终导致终末期肾脏疾病的肾脏微结构的早期变化。QUS包括分析与各种解剖尺度的散射相对应的频率通道中的回声频谱，以测量基本组织微结构的大小、数密度和胶原含量。这是最早的在体和非侵入性分析组织特性的技术之一。终末期肾病在美国的发病率呈几何级数增长。1992年，每个ESRD患者的平均医疗保险费用为46,117美元，总计95亿美元。进行性损伤导致ESRD的明确诊断现在是基于临床结果和活检；这通常发生在疾病过程的后期。目前还没有测试来确定早期肾脏损伤的存在，或确定应尝试对其进行渐进性损伤预防的高危人群。这项研究将检验QUS作为一种安全、廉价和非侵入性方法的潜力，用于早期检测由糖尿病、高血压和囊性肾脏疾病等几种常见疾病引起的肾损伤。这个为期三年的多学科研究项目旨在开发新的生物医学仪器、实验技术和疾病过程模型。如果QUS能够成功地识别出有ESRD风险的患者，将提高预防疾病的潜力，显著降低治疗疾病的净成本，并提高受影响患者的生活质量。这项研究计划是堪萨斯大学新的研究生水平生物医学工程计划的一部分。***

9708221 Insana Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) techniques are to be developed to detect early changes in renal microstructure that ultimately lead to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). QUS involves analysis of echo spectra in frequency channels corresponding to scattering from various anatomical scales to measure the size, number density, and collagen content of essential tissue microstructures. These are among the first techniques for analyzing histological properties of tissues in vivo and noninvasively. The incidence of ESRD in the United States is increasing geometrically. Average medicare costs were $46,117 per ESRD patient for a total of $9.5 billion in 1992. A definitive diagnosis of progressive injury leading to ESRD is now based on clinical findings and biopsy; that often occur late in the disease process. Currently no test exists to establish the presence of early kidney injury or to identify populations at risk for whom prevention of progressive injury should be attempted. This investigation will examine the potential of QUS as a safe, inexpensive, and noninvasive method for early detection of renal injury caused by several common conditions including diabetes, hypertension, and cystic kidney disease. This three-year, multidisciplinary research project aims to develop new biomedical instrumentation, experimental techniques, and models of disease processes. If QUS can successfully identify patients at risk for ESRD, the potential to prevent disease would be improved, the net cost of treating the disease would be reduced significantly, and the quality of life for those patients affected would be improved. This research program is part of a new graduate-level Biomedical Engineering Program at the University of Kansas. ***