Explore more about: Heart Disease

While pacemakers have treated many patients with heart rhythm disorders, their bulky design and use of wires limits their usefulness and poses a risk of heart damage or infection. Now, researchers have cut the cords, shrunk the size, and expanded the capabilities of current designs.

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University have developed a new synergistic approach to revascularization that combines a new framework made from granular hydrogels with micropuncture, a surgical technique. Their preclinical method could rapidly grow organized blood vessels in live rats.

UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Lowell have received $8.9 million from the National Institutes of Health in support for their development of home care technology. Source: Worcester Business Journal

One day, the ultrasound equipment that health care professionals use for essential diagnostic imaging may no longer be confined to the clinic, instead operated by patients in the comfort of their homes. New research marks a major step toward that future.

After years of research, an NIH-funded team has developed a wearable cardiac ultrasound imager that can non-invasively capture real-time images of the human heart. The prototype patch, which is about the size of a postage stamp, can be worn during exercise, providing valuable cardiac information when the heart is under stress.

The NIH announced the winners of the DEBUT Challenge with prizes totaling $130,000

One team helped develop the first photon-counting detector (PCD)-CT system, which is superior to current CT technology. Another team has also been using artificial intelligence to lower the dose of radiation given to a patient when they are undergoing a conventional CT brain scan.

New MRI technology, developed by Siemens in collaboration with researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and College of Engineering, will expand imaging access for patients with implanted medical devices, severe obesity or claustrophobia. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is the first in the United States to install this recently FDA-approved full body MRI for patient care. Source: OSU.edu.

Investigators have developed and tested a targeted contrast agent that can detect blood clots in the hearts of patients with atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat. The strategy could be used to find clots in other parts of the body as well, such as in vessels that, when blocked, can lead to stroke.

NIBIB-funded engineers have developed a flexible epidermal patch that can simultaneously and continuously monitor cardiac output and metabolic levels of glucose, lactate, caffeine, or alcohol. The patch is a major step towards continuous non-invasive health monitoring.