This request is for an Ultrasound Imaging System, the S-Sharp Corporation Prospect T1 High Frequency Ultrasound Imaging System For Mice, with a 40 MHz probe, and an Indus Doppler Flow Velocity System. This instrument will replace and upgrade our current mouse echocardiography system, a Siemans Acuson S2000 Ultrasound System, with a 14 MHz probe. This old instrument was purchased in 2008 and is now 11 years old. Image quality is deteriorating, and we are not able to get the detail and resolution we require. The requested ultrasound system will support 5 Major User PIs in 4 VA-funded projects. Each Major User is working toward new treatments for heart failure, one of the most common, deadly clinical problems in Veterans. The PIs use the echo system to assess the efficacy of potential treatments by quantifying the size and function of the left and right ventricles and flow in the heart and main arteries. The 5 PIs, all at the San Francisco VAMC, are as follows: Paul C. Simpson, MD, Staff Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine, UCSF. His projects are ?Novel adrenergic mechanisms in heart failure therapy? (VA), and ?An alpha-1A-adrenergic drug for heart failure? (NIH). Anthony J. Baker, PhD, Research Biologist SFVAHCS and Professor of Medicine, UCSF. His projects are ?Right Heart Function in Health and Chronic Disease? (VA), and ?Novel Therapy for Right Ventricular Failure? (UCSF). Mary Nakamura, MD, Staff Physician and Professor of Medicine, UCSF, and co-PI Joel S. Karliner MD, Staff Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine, UCSF. Their project is ?Immune Mechanisms of Cardiac Remodeling? (VA). Robert Raffai, PhD, Research Biologist SFVAHCS and Associate Professor of Surgery, UCSF. His projects are ?Exosomes in the Pathogenesis of Diabetic Atherosclerosis & its Treatment Opportunities? (VA), and ?Hyperglycemia and MicroRNA Dysregulation of Inflammation in Atherosclerosis? (NIH). The requested ultrasound system will enable and greatly enhance the work in the projects named above, and hopefully facilitate the efforts to discover new treatments for heart failure.
This equipment request is to enable our VA research on Heart Failure. Heart failure is the #1 discharge diagnosis in the VA Health Care system. Heart failure is often caused by ischemic heart disease, which is the 4th most common diagnosis in older Veterans, and is destined to become more and more prevalent, with the increase in Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Agent Orange exposure. PTSD and Agent Orange are much more prevalent in Veterans, and both are recognized as causes of cardiovascular disease. The VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) goal is to improve clinical practice for high-risk and/or highly prevalent diseases or conditions among Veterans. Heart failure and ischemic heart disease are both high-risk, and highly prevalent diseases included in the QUERI program. Thus research on heart failure is extremely important for the mission of the VA. Current treatments for heart failure are not very effective, and the 5 PIs using the requested echocardiography system are all focused on potential new treatments for heart failure.
