Nuclear angiography is considered the superior technique for accurate quantitative measurement of ventricular function. Despite this, a growing and predominant fraction of such measurements are performed via echocardiography. Two factors have strongly influenced this shift to a less than optimal technology; 1) the higher equipment costs, and 2) much larger size and lack of portability of the nuclear camera. Proportional Technologies, Inc., proposes to develop an ultra-portable low cost nuclear angiography camera based upon the multiwire proportional camera and 178/Ta generator produced radiopharmaceutical whose cost and portability are directly competitive with echo devices. The camera will incorporate a powerful removable computer with color graphic display and a high speed multiwire sensor. Bedside production of radiopharmaceutical will be provided by an onboard 178/W/178/Ta computer controlled generator equipped with integral dose calibration. In Phase I a prototype camera was successfully produced and thoroughly tested at the Philadelphia Heart Institute. The camera was judged very operationally effective and performed flawlessly in this study. In Phase II six preproduction cameras will be constructed and evaluated in a broad clinical trial combining basic validation of ventricular function measurements required for FDA approval and investigating multiple unique applications offered by the technology.
The goal of this project is development of a nuclear angiography camera with substantially lowered cost and improved portability. If successfully developed, this product would facilitate wider usage of the well established and more quantitative nuclear angiography procedure in diagnosis and evaluation of coronary disease, particularly in the critically ill patient. Owing to the sizable patient population undergoing cardiac diagnostic procedure, the market for such a device should be sizable.
