Vulnerable Plaque Amplified Optical Analyzer

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Energy Research Company ERCo in a collaboration with The City College of New York CCNY and Columbia University Medical Center CUMC proposes developing the Vulnerable Plaque Amplified Optical Analyzer VPAOA a fiber optic catheter instrument based on patented amplified spectroscopy technology for detecting and analyzing vulnerable plaque VP in coronary arteries VP is a type of arterial plaque that is susceptible to sudden rupture often resulting in a heart attack or stroe and death An estimated of sudden heart attack fatalities are due to the formation of a thrombosis following the rupture of a VP When the fibrous cap that covers a VP is less than mm thick it is too thin to contain the plaque in the face of common stresses and is susceptible to sudden rupture With over heart attacks in the U S each year technology to diagnose VP and measure VP caps can be transformative for public health potentially saving thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars in medical costs per year in the U S alone The sensor proposed in this project will detect VP and measure the thickness of the fibrous caps giving cardiologists the predictive knowledge of unstable plaques needed to prevent heart attacks most effectively Conclusively detecting VP is not possible with traditional clinical tools such as intravascular ultrasound IVUS optical coherence tomography OCT and high resolution magnetic resonance imaging MRI These are imaging not diagnostic methods and are therefore limited by their poor sensitivity and ability to predict rupture of VP Even the new near infrared NIR techniques can only provide limited information about a plaque and are plagued by the strong absorption of NIR radiation by water The proposed device overcomes these limitations and provides in vivo diagnostic information and imaging of VP Objectives Phase I of the project will result in a proof of concept prototype device tested on human artery specimens exhibiting different types of plaques Phase II will result in an advanced prototype suitable for testing in a medical center laboratory on suitable animals with VP as preparation for human testing Phase I Specific Aims and Methods to be Employed CCNY will build an amplified spectroscopy system on a laboratory bench and demonstrate signal amplification on human arterial specimens exhibiting plaques ERCo will build a prototype fiber optic catheter probe system capable of generating and analyzing the amplified spectra Finally the catheter probe system will be tested for the ability to i discriminate between VP and non VP specimens and ii measure cap thicknesses of VP plaques with high accuracy This will be done with blind tests on specimens analyzed by andquot gold standardandquot pathology methods at CUMC

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE The proposed project will result in an instrument that will give cardiologists the ability to conclusively diagnose unstable arterial plaques known as vulnerable plaques before a heart attack or stroke occurs potentially saving thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars in medical treatment per year in the United States alone Vulnerable plaques are particularly dangerous because they are susceptible to sudden rupture often resulting in a heart attack or stroke and death Indeed it is estimated that of sudden heart attack fatalities are due to the formation of an arterial blockage known as a thrombosis following the rupture of a vulnerable plaque