CAREER: Structure-Functional Imaging of the Atrial Myocardium

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

PI: Hendon, Christine Proposal: 1454365 Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of arrhythmia, is characterized by quivering of the atria due to unorganized electrical activity. Those with AF run the risk of stroke due to blood clots developed in the atria or heart failure from lack of pumped blood. This proposal focuses on improving ablation techniques used to treat atrial fibrillation through the addition of optical imaging systems. If successful, this would be the first real time imaging tool capable of assisting in this very common surgical procedure. The Educational Plan emphasizes activities designed to recruit more women and minority students into graduate level engineering program. The PIs will integrate this platform into their signal processing and instrumentation courses. The proposal focuses on improving ablation techniques used to treat atrial fibrillation through the addition of an optical imaging system using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to characterize fiber orientation and tissue composition, measure ablation depth, and determine if such information, along with functional electrical analysis, can be used to produce more efficacious lesions, i.e., ones that are not unnecessarily large or do not have to be redone. The PI will bring her expertise in optics and signal processing to bear on assessing therapy of atrial fibrillation using radiofrequency ablation. Using NIRS should provide a highly useful method for assessing RFA lesions. Preliminary data confirm that polarization sensitive OCT can detect fiber orientation, a key physiological parameter in assessing tissue functionality. The results show good potential for distinguishing healthy myocardium from fibrotic tissue. This award is co-funded by the Biophotonics program (CBET) in the Engineering Directorate and the Communications, Circuits, & Sensing Systems (ECCS) in the Engineering Directorate.