Traditional means to identify and treat arterial disease are hampered by an inability to localize atheroma extent and composition. New techniques using targeted echogenic liposomes (ELIP) are being explored as possible solutions to overcome these problems. ELIP are phospholipid vesicles enclosing both aqueous and gaseous spaces. Therapeutics, such as drugs or genes, can be loaded into the ELIP. Furthermore, it has been seen that upon exposure to pulsed ultrasound, the therapeutic can be released from the ELIP and made available for delivery to nearby tissue. The encapsulated gas allows the ELIP to be imaged with a clinical ultrasound scanner and the therapeutic to be delivered via cavitation nucleation. The principal aim of this proposal is to develop techniques that will provide spatially resolved, noninvasive feedback for ultrasound-mediated delivery of a therapeutic to an arterial wall using ELIP. To achieve this aim, two specific aims will be investigated. 1) The acoustic emissions of insonified ELIP, as recorded by a passive ultrasound array, will be correlated with release of an anti-inflammatory (rosiglitazone-cyclodextrin). Subsequently, a spatial map of the emissions, and correlated therapeutic release, will be created. 2) Passive imaging of the insonified ELIP will be correlated with the delivery of the therapeutic to an ex vivo porcine artery. Successful completion of these studies will contribute significantly to the long-term goals of the Holland and McPherson Labs at the Universities of Cincinnati and Texas Health Sciences Center-Houston to trigger and enhance the delivery of a therapeutic for improved physiologic cardiovascular flow.
The proposal seeks to develop passive cavitation images for ultrasound-mediated local release and enhanced delivery of an anti-inflammatory drug for atheroma treatment using echogenic liposomes.
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