Speeding up scans to help doctors diagnose heart disease earlier

Rapid analysis of regional myocardial strain from accelerated velocity-encoded MRI data acquisition for early diagnosis of cardiac disease

Studying how the heart muscle is strained when the heart beats could help with early detection of heart disease. Dr Jennifer Keegan and her team have developed a way of taking images of heart muscle strain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, although this could provide invaluable information to doctors, it is currently too slow to be used in the clinic. In this translational project, Dr Keegan plans to develop a fast and easy-to-use computer program to analyse MRI scans so that the technique can be used in a busy clinical setting. They will begin by developing an MRI ‘atlas’ of people with healthy hearts by measuring strain in both the left and right ventricles of the heart, the main pumping chambers. This will assess how reproducible the method is, and compare it with the standard technique used by doctors in the clinic for measuring strain. They will then test the new MRI method for its ability to look at the strain in specific regions of the heart, rather than once it affects the whole heart, which could enable earlier detection of disease. They hope to understand more about how strain is altered in the whole heart and areas of the heart in three different heart conditions: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, repaired congenital heart defects and pulmonary artery hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs). If successful, they will use this information to help look for ways to better capture strain information in all patients with heart disease.