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病（ESRD）的肾脏微结构的早期变化。 QUS涉及在对应于来自各种解剖尺度的散射的频率通道中分析回波频谱，以测量基本组织微结构的大小、数密度和胶原蛋白含量。 这些是用于在体内和非侵入性地分析组织的组织学特性的第一批技术。 在美国，ESRD的发病率呈几何级数增长。 1992年，每名终末期肾病患者的平均医疗费用为46，117美元，总额为95亿美元。 目前，对导致ESRD的进行性损伤的明确诊断是基于临床表现和活检;这通常发生在疾病过程的晚期。 目前还没有试验来确定早期肾损伤的存在或确定应尝试预防进行性损伤的风险人群。 本研究将探讨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、高血压和囊性肾病等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，那么预防疾病的可能性将得到提高，治疗疾病的净成本将显著降低，受影响患者的生活质量将得到改善。 该研究项目是堪萨斯大学新的研究生水平生物医学工程项目的一部分。 ***

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. ***