Albus Imaging Community hospital identification of high CV risk patients during cancer treatment Project Summary/Abstract: The goal of this research is to enable community hospitals to detect cardiovascular injury very early in breast cancer patients using our advanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures. This is very significant because 1) nearly 20% of breast cancer survivors will experience a serious cardiac event and 2) most of these patients are treated in community hospital settings that do not currently have access to these advanced imaging techniques. Our rapid cardiac imaging acquisition and analysis process overcomes several of the limitations that have prevented the widespread clinical utilization of cardiac MRI, including the relatively high level o training necessary to acquire and analyze the images, and the lengthy 45+ minute scan and analysis times. Introducing this technology to community hospitals will allow our company to work toward another one of its overall goals: to identify the women most susceptible to cardiac injury so they can be targeted with cardioprotective regimens to reduce cardiovascular injury and improve overall survival. Initially in this Phase I proposal, we will compare the utility of ou rapid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, analysis, and forecasting process with the more traditional techniques, such as, conventional 45-minute MRI, echocardiography, and cardiac blood tests in women receiving treatment for breast cancer in five community hospitals. If this Phase I study is successful, we will expand and test the product in women treated among 15 community hospitals nationwide. We believe that this advanced technique can be helpful and scaled for use in many other patients at risk for potential CV injury such as other cancer patients, diabetics and those with other causes of heart failure.
Albus Imaging Community hospital identification of high CV risk patients during cancer treatment Project Narrative Breast cancer survivors are increasingly experiencing heart attacks and strokes ~7 years after receipt of their cancer treatment. New science suggests that advanced heart monitoring techniques (utilizing imaging), at present confined to large academic medical centers, may be able to identify early heart injury at a time when 'cardio-protective' treatment can be administered while women receive their chemotherapy. Our project seeks to bring a low-cost & highly accurate version of this technology to breast cancer patients and their physicians in community hospitals, where today, over 90% of women receive their chemotherapy treatments.
