Oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the heart
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the heart.
IRAS ID
156066
Contact name
Christopher Miller
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
Research summary
Angina is the symptom that people experience when the oxygen demand of the heart muscle exceeds its supply (so called heart muscle 'ischaemia'). Determining the presence and severity of heart muscle ischaemia is a key goal in the effective management of coronary artery disease (heart disease).
A number of imaging techniques (scans) are used clinically to detect heart muscle ischaemia. However, these imaging tests rely on the use of exogenous contrast agents ('dye'), which, albeit small, carry additional risks and cannot be given in certain populations, excluding some patients from these tests. Furthermore, current scanning methods only assess heart muscle ischaemia indirectly (surrogate measurements) - ischaemia per se is not measured.
Oxygen enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (OE-MRI) uses the inherent magnetic properties of oxygen itself to assess how well the tissues in the body receive and absorb oxygen. OE-MRI has been used to measure oxygen absorption in the lungs of patients with lung conditions and in the placenta of pregnant women.
OE-MRI has not been applied in the heart before. We hypothesise that OE-MRI will allow measurement of oxygen levels in the heart muscle, and therefore allow heart disease to be detected without using a dye. Furthermore, because OE-MRI actually measures measures oxygen levels, it may be more accurate than current heart scans for detecting heart disease.
In order to investigate this hypothesis we propose an exploratory pilot study, in which 10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with heart disease will undergo an MRI scan.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/1089
Date of REC Opinion
25 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion