Improved MR Techniques for Coronary Artery Imaging

描述(由申请人提供)：本研究项目的目标是开发和评估一套使用磁共振成像(MRI)进行无创冠状动脉成像的新技术。由于冠状动脉疾病仍然是美国的主要死亡原因，一种非侵入性的冠状动脉成像方法能够准确地检测和量化冠状动脉病变，将代表着心脏护理的重大进步。冠状动脉磁共振血管和管壁成像在过去几年中取得了重大进展。最近的临床研究已经取得了令人振奋的结果，但其准确性还不够高，无法用于临床。这项拟议的研究项目提出了新的技术，以提高磁共振冠状动脉成像和冠状动脉壁成像的准确性和可靠性。在一段时间的技术发展之后，将对疑似冠状动脉疾病患者的优化冠状动脉成像方法与X射线血管造影和血管内超声进行比较研究。该项目将把经过验证的技术方案与不断的临床反馈结合起来，以促进方法的改进和完善。相关性：这项研究计划开发和测试心脏成像的新方法。这些新方法旨在检测和评估导致胸痛和心脏病发作的冠状动脉疾病。新方法是非侵入性的，因此与现有方法相比，它们可以在较低风险和患者不适的情况下诊断心脏病。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this research project is to develop and evaluate a set of new techniques for noninvasive coronary artery imaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Because coronary artery disease remains the major cause of death in the United States, a noninvasive method for coronary artery imaging providing accurate detection and quantification of coronary artery lesions would represent a major advance in cardiac care. Coronary magnetic resonance artery and vessel wall imaging have made significant progress over the past few years. Recent clinical studies have yielded promising results, but the accuracy is not yet high enough for clinical use. The proposed research project proposes new techniques to improve the accuracy and reliability of both magnetic resonance coronary angiography and coronary wall imaging. A period of technical development will be followed by a comparative study of the optimized coronary artery imaging methods with x-ray angiography and intravascular ultrasound in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. This project will combine a proven technical program with constant clinical feedback to facilitate the improvement and refinement of the methods. Relevance: This research project proposes to develop and test new methods for imaging the heart. These new methods are designed to detect and evaluate coronary artery disease, which causes chest pain and heart attacks. The new methods are noninvasive, so they could allow diagnosis of heart disease with less risk and discomfort to the patient than existing methods.