Assessing Airway Smooth Muscle Tone in Asthma with Endobronchial Optical Coherence Tomography

研究：哮喘影响超过3亿人，估计高达10%的人患有“治疗- 抵抗性”哮喘，需要替代策略。气道平滑肌（ASM）经历 增加支气管收缩和损害肺功能的哮喘显著变化。治疗和 因此，靶向ASM的治疗可能为控制哮喘提供另一种方法， 在临床环境中评估ASM的困难阻碍了进展。最近，我们展示了一种 一种基于偏振敏感光学相干断层扫描（PS-OCT）的成像平台，能够 通过利用平滑肌的形状双折射来评估ASM在体内的分布。在本提案中，我们 我们的目标是在试点临床研究中开发、验证和实施这项技术的扩展， 用于评估ASM功能。这项技术不仅有可能推进哮喘研究， 研究涉及许多器官系统中平滑肌的许多疾病和病症。 候选人：大卫亚当斯，博士是在哈佛医学院终身教职的医学讲师。他 长期的职业目标是成为一名独立的功能成像翻译研究人员，专注于 主要是ASM和哮喘。他有很强的物理学背景，重点是光学和信号 处理.自从在马萨诸塞州总医院（MGH）开始博士后研究以来， 开发新的数据处理技术，以最大限度地利用OCT成像获得的数据。 这项研究的重点是用PS-OCT评估ASM。这项研究将使他在他的研究中受益匪浅。 通过为他提供肺生理学方面的宝贵培训， 临床研究 环境：亚当斯博士将在MGH的特殊环境中接受培训，拥有丰富的资源 可以帮助他进行研究。他的指导团队由国际知名的 在各自领域的领导者：梅丽莎·苏特博士，主要导师，是在翻译OCT领域的杰出人物 研究，直接参与了旨在将OCT成像转化为临床的开创性研究。博士 MGH韦尔曼光医学中心的共同主要导师Brett Bouma是关键之一。 OCT技术和OCT转化的先驱。波士顿的二级导师Kenneth Lutchen博士 该大学是旨在研究肺生理学的实验开发的先驱， 特别是ASM。本杰明·梅塞德斯博士也是一名二级导师，他是肺科主任， 重症监护在MGH和临床哮喘研究的领军人物。除了这种令人印象深刻的指导， 团队，亚当斯博士还可以立即获得巨大的智力和合作机会 可在MGH和哈佛获得。

Research: Asthma affects over 300 million individuals with up to an estimated 10% suffering from “treatment- resistant” asthma, for whom alternative strategies are needed. Airway smooth muscle (ASM) undergoes significant changes in asthma that increase bronchoconstriction and impair lung function. Treatments and therapies that target ASM specifically may therefore offer an alternative approach to controlling asthma, but progress is impeded by the difficulty in assessing ASM in a clinical setting. Recently we have demonstrated an imaging platform based on polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) capable of assessing ASM distributions in vivo by exploiting the form birefringence of smooth muscle. In this proposal we are aiming to develop, validate, and implement in a pilot clinical study an extension to this technology that can be used to assess ASM function. This technology has the potential to advance not only asthma research, but research of many diseases and disorders involving smooth muscle in a number of organ systems. Candidate: David Adams, PhD is an Instructor in Medicine on the tenure track at Harvard Medical School. His long-term career goal is to become an independent translational researcher in functional imaging, focusing primarily on ASM and asthma. He has a strong background in physics, with emphasis on optics and signal processing. Since beginning postdoctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), he has worked on developing novel data processing techniques to maximize the utilization of data obtained with OCT imaging. The focus of this being the assessment of ASM with PS-OCT. This research will greatly benefit him in his transition to independent translational research by providing him with invaluable training in lung physiology and clinical research. Environment: Dr. Adams will train in an exceptional environment at MGH, with an abundance of resources available to help him conduct his research. His mentoring team is comprised of internationally recognized leaders in their fields: Dr. Melissa Suter, primary mentor, is a luminary in the field of translational OCT research, having been directly involved in seminal studies aimed at translating OCT imaging to the clinic. Dr. Brett Bouma, co-primary mentor, of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at MGH is one of the key progenitors of OCT technology and translational OCT. Dr. Kenneth Lutchen, a secondary mentor, of Boston University is a pioneer in the development of experiments aimed at investigating lung physiology, and specifically ASM. Dr. Benjamin Medoff, also a secondary mentor, is chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at MGH and a leading figure in clinical asthma research. In addition to this impressive mentoring team, Dr. Adams also has immediate access to the tremendous intellectual and collaborative opportunities available at MGH and Harvard.