Invasive imaging

Background

Minimally invasive treatments can cure many cardiovascular diseases with minimal trauma, pain and infection risk for the patient, and offer faster recovery than open-chest surgery. Examples are dottering/stent implantation for coronary artery disease, and intracardiac ablation for treatment of rhythm disorders. Such procedures rely critically on image guidance. Traditional approaches, mainly X-ray fluoroscopy, have limited contrast, resolution, and spatial information. The Invasive Imaging group studies technologies, principles and devices that can provide relevant information during interventions.

Overall aim

Minimally invasive imaging technologies, in the coronary arteries or in the heart, can provide accurate guidance during catheter-based treatment. Since the images are needed to determine the therapeutic strategy, imaging must be fast and crystal clear, showing precisely what is important for an optimal clinical result.

Research focus area

We use (infrared) light and ultrasound to make images of the heart and arteries. Mostly, those imaging modalities are miniaturized to fit on an intravascular or intracardiac catheter. Typical examples are intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) and ultrasound (IVUS). A new development is intravascular photoacoustic (IVPA imaging) which excites ultrasound with light. For all these topics we work on new forms of image contrast and device research. We also investigate the biology of coronary and carotid artery disease, by disentangling the lipid composition of developing and advanced atherosclerosis using mass spectrometry imaging.

• Seeing the heart attack before it happens (Veni Wang)
• Heartbeat OCT

Imaging atherosclerotic plaque lipidomics in vivo

(Vici Van Soest)

PARFAIT

Photoacoustic imaging of Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation Part of the NWO Perspectief consortium iMIT

Rapid Innovation of Minimally Invasive Instruments

This project is part of the Medical Delta and primarily is a collaboration between the MISIT group of the 3mE faculty at TU Delft, Surgery at LUMC, and the BME group of the Thorax Center at Erasmus MC.

Seeing the heart attack (and more) before it happens

I aim to develop new imaging technologies to visualize vulnerable plaques and other disease at early stage.

• Photoacoustic imaging for guidance of interventions in cardiovascular medicine
• Thermo-elastic optical coherence tomography
• Heartbeat OCT: in vivo intravascular megahertz-optical coherence tomography
• Photonics in cardiovascular medicine
• Intravascular photoacoustic imaging of human coronary atherosclerosis
• Atherosclerotic tissue characterization in vivo by optical coherence tomography attenuation imaging

Collaborations within Erasmus MC

• Cardiology: Interventional Cardiology
• Cardiology: Translational Electrophysiology
• Radiology: Head and Neck Radiology, Interventional Radiology
• Pulmonology

Collaborations outside Erasmus MC

• Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Bouma lab
• Universität zu Lübeck, Biomedizinsche Optik, Huber lab

• NWO Vici 16131
• NWO Veni 15940
• Medical Delta
• Industry contracts

• Gijs van Soest
• Francis Kalloor Joseph
• Sophinese Iskander-Rizk
• Shengnan Liu
• Nuria Slijkhuis
• Aaron Doug Deen
• Antonio López Marín
• A. Nikolaev
• S. Chandramoorthi
• Mervenur Akkus

Visiting scientists:

• Brett Bouma
• Nandini Bhattacharya