Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is the third most common
cause of death in the US with at least 600,000 cases occurring annually. APE
results from migration of emboli to the lungs and obstruction of pulmonary blood
vessels. If detected in early stages of development, the high rate of mortality
caused by APE may be reduced significantly. A better understanding of the
biomechanics of the cardiac right ventricle (RV) and the contribution of APE to
RV dysfunction may provide insight into biomarker identification and subsequent
early diagnosis of APE.
Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a
method of detecting early stage APE using measured biomechanical changes to the
cardiac right ventricle. It was found that RV dysfunction due to APE exhibits
several characteristic signs including (1) waving paradoxical motion of the RV
inner boundary, (2) decrease in local curvature of the septum, (3) lower
positive correlation between the movement of inner boundaries of the septal and
free walls of the RV, (4) slower blood ejection by the RV, and (5) discontinuous
movement observed particularly in the middle of the RV septal wall.
Using these characteristic features, early stage APE can be
diagnosed and prognosis of APE can be more accurately determined.
Potential Applications
- Early stage detection of APE
- Determination of APE prognosis
Benefits and Advantages
- Early detection increases chance or survival
- Plurality of functional biomarkers for better diagnostic
ability
- Development of effective methods for detecting and
visualizing abnormal RV characteristics
For more information about the inventor(s) and their
research, please see
Dr. Liang’s
departmental webpage