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-- 难治性“哮喘，需要替代治疗策略。呼吸道平滑肌(ASM)经历 哮喘的显著变化，加重了支气管收缩，损害了肺功能。治疗和 因此，针对ASM的治疗可能会提供一种控制哮喘的替代方法，但 在临床环境中评估ASM的困难阻碍了进展。最近，我们演示了一种 基于偏振敏感光学相干层析成像(PS-OCT)的成像平台 通过利用平滑肌的双折射形式评估ASM在体内的分布。在这份提案中，我们 正在致力于开发、验证这项技术的扩展，并在试点临床研究中实施，该扩展可以 用于评估ASM功能。这项技术不仅有可能推进哮喘研究，而且 研究涉及多个器官系统中的平滑肌的许多疾病和紊乱。 候选人：大卫·亚当斯，博士，哈佛医学院终身教职医学讲师。他的 长期的职业目标是成为功能成像领域的独立翻译研究员，专注于 主要针对自闭症和哮喘。他在物理学方面有很强的背景，重点是光学和信号 正在处理。自从开始在马萨诸塞州总医院(MGH)从事博士后研究以来，他一直在 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。 重点是用PS-OCT对ASM进行评估。这项研究对他今后的工作大有裨益。 过渡到独立的翻译研究，为他提供宝贵的肺生理和 临床研究。 环境：亚当斯博士将在MGH特殊的环境中接受培训，资源丰富 可以帮助他进行研究。他的指导团队由国际知名的 各自领域的领导者：首席导师梅丽莎·苏特博士是翻译OCT领域的杰出人物 曾直接参与旨在将OCT成像技术转化为临床的开创性研究。Dr。 麻省理工学院韦尔曼光医学中心的联合初级导师布雷特·布玛是关键之一 OCT技术和翻译型OCT的先驱。波士顿大学的二级导师Kenneth Lutchen博士 大学是开发旨在研究肺部生理学的实验的先驱， 具体地说，ASM。本杰明·梅多夫博士也是一名二级导师，是肺科和心内科主任 MGH的重症监护和临床哮喘研究的领军人物。除了这一令人印象深刻的指导 团队，亚当斯博士还可以立即接触到巨大的智力和合作机会 在麻省理工学院和哈佛大学都有。

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.