{"id":1449,"date":"2011-02-17T22:17:36","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T22:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2011-02-17T22:17:36","modified_gmt":"2011-02-17T22:17:36","slug":"two-hearts-are-better-than-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/?p=1449","title":{"rendered":"Two hearts are better than one"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1450\" style=\"width: 220px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><strong> <\/strong><strong><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-1450\" href=\"http:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/?attachment_id=1450\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1450\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-1450 \" title=\"hart\" src=\"http:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/hart-300x297.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"208\" \/><\/a><\/strong><p id=\"caption-attachment-1450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Heart with blockages in main artery and two branches, resulting in poor blood flow, as depicted as (rings of) white segments of the heart muscle (Image: Medical Delta)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Medical Delta researchers have  developed a technology that combines anatomical and functional data from  the heart into one image.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It can hardly be a coincidence that Medical Delta researchers  presented their unique and possibly lifesaving views of the heart on  Valentine&#8217;s Day. Lead author, Hortense Kirisli MSc (Erasmus MC and  Leiden University MC), will present a paper in Orlando, Florida,  containing images made with a prototype workstation that combines  anatomical information from a CT-scan, with functional information from  an MRI, in one interactive, three-dimensional image of the heart. Not  only does the image show which coronary arteries have been clogged up  and to what extent, but it also reveals how the perfusion of the heart  muscle fed by those arteries has been affected.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Heart patients  are routinely scanned with both CT (X-ray computer tomography) and MRI  or PET-scan. The CT scanning technique depicts the anatomy of the heart,  while the latter two techniques map the actual perfusion &#8211; or  nourishing flow of blood through the heart muscle. These scans may be  taken days apart and at different locations. And yet a  cardio-radiologist must consult and compare the separate images when  deciding which arteries to clear in order to improve the heart&#8217;s  condition. The researchers hope to assist this decision-making with  their combined image.<\/p>\n<p>The 3D-data sets of both technologies are  fitted together based on the anatomy of the heart&#8217;s left ventricle,  which shows up in both images. The images do not have to fit down to the  last millimetre, says Dr Wiro Niessen (TU Delft&#8217;s faculty of Applied  Sciences and Erasmus MC), who is coordinating the project with Dr Hans  Reiber (LUMC). Perfusion data aren&#8217;t very sharp to begin with, but what  must be visible is which artery feeds what part of the heart muscle.<\/p>\n<p>Clever  as this imaging may be, it has yet to prove its diagnostic value. Dr  Niessen says the team is still working on the protocol for clinical  evaluation. Essentially they want doctors to re-examine some older cases  with the new technique to see if it improves their diagnoses.<br \/>\nThe  team presenting the paper consists of researchers from Erasmus MC,  Leiden UMC and TU Delft, working together in the Medical Delta  consortium. The work is part of the &#8216;Heart in 3D&#8217; project.<\/p>\n<p><em>H.A.  Kirsli et al, W.J. Niessen: &#8216;A patient-specific visualization tool for  comprehensive analysis of coronary CTA and perfusion MRI data&#8217;.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Medical Delta researchers have developed a technology that combines anatomical and functional data from the heart into one image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[76,113,217,299,331],"class_list":["post-1449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-delta","tag-cardiology","tag-ct-scan","tag-heart","tag-mri","tag-pet-scan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joswassink.nl\/insight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}