David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
Jane Platt
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0880
RELEASE: 07-132
NASA TECHNOLOGY HELPS DETECT AND TREAT HEART DISEASE AND STROKES
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA space technology is helping doctors diagnose
and monitor treatments for hardening of the arteries in its early
stages, before it causes heart attacks and strokes.
Hospitals and doctors around the country are using ArterioVision
software initially developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, Calif., along with a standardized, painless,
non-invasive ultrasound examination of the carotid artery, which
carries blood from the heart to the brain.
A standard carotid ultrasound measures plaque and blood flow within
the artery. When an ultrasound is used with the software, the test
measures the thickness of the inner two layers of the carotid artery
- the intima and media. Medical Technologies International, Inc.
(MTI) of Palm Desert, Calif., patented the ArterioVision software.
Arterial thickening provides the earliest evidence of atherosclerosis,
or hardening of the arteries, the beginning stage of a disease
process that leads to heart disease and stroke. Doctors can use this
carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) measurement to calculate the
age of the patient's arteries, which does not always match the
patient's calendar age.
"You may look and feel one way on the outside, but your arteries
actually could be much older than one realizes," said Dr. Howard N.
Hodis of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern
California, Los Angeles. "Once patients see how thick their arteries
are, there is much more incentive for them to change their lifestyle
with dietary modification and exercise," he said. "Physicians also
can use the test to monitor and change current medications."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the new diagnostic
tool, called the ArterioVision CIMT procedure. Robert Selzer, MTI
chief engineer, worked in JPL's Image Processing Laboratory for 15
years, where the technology was developed that ultimately led to the
software used in ArterioVision.
"This is such a precise method of examining the carotid artery. It can
distinguish between 256 shades of gray at a subpixel level," Selzer
said. "You need that kind of detail to help catch heart disease as
early as you can, often before there are any outward symptoms."
During the test, a patient lies on an examination table while a
technician applies gel to the neck to image the carotid arteries,
located on both sides of the neck near the skin's surface. The
technician uses an ultrasound machine while following a patented
protocol to capture specific images of the carotid artery wall. Using
the ArterioVision software, the physician generates a CIMT
measurement and a report that identifies the patient's risk profile
when compared to people of the same gender and age.
JPL's Image Processing Laboratory was created in 1966 to receive and
make sense of spacecraft imagery. In the lab, the NASA-invented Video
Imaging Communication and Retrieval software has been used to process
pictures from numerous space missions, including the Voyagers and
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Periodic upgrades of the imaging
software have enabled greater accuracy and improved knowledge of our
solar system, and have laid the groundwork for understanding images
of all kinds.
The ArterioVision test was developed with JPL's Innovative
Partnerships Program, designed to bring benefits of the space program
to the public. "It is exciting to see this NASA-funded technology
grow in sophistication over the years and help in the battle against
one of the nation's leading health issues," said Ken Wolfenbarger,
Innovative Partnerships Program manager at JPL. The American Heart
Association says heart disease is the leading cause of death in the
United States, while strokes are third, behind all forms of cancer.
Gary F. Thompson, chairman and chief executive officer of MTI, says
the test is near and dear to his heart - literally and figuratively.
"I was the first male in my family to reach 50, so I decided to
celebrate by running the Los Angeles marathon, but I had a heart
attack halfway through it and couldn't finish," Thompson said. "None
of the non-invasive tests that I had prior to the marathon detected
my silent heart disease, and I knew there had to be something better
out there."
The California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, which manages JPL
for NASA, licensed the ArterioVision device to MTI. For more
information about ArterioVision, visit:
For more information about NASA's Innovative Partnership Programs,
visit:
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
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