Acquisition of echocardiography equipment for the evaluation of cardiac functionin humans and animals (rats and mice) and of vascular function in humans

• Grant number: 09/53948-6
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• Start date: August 01, 2010
• End date: July 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Negrão
• Grantee: Carlos Eduardo Negrão
• Host Institution: Instituto do Coração Professor Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini (INCOR). Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• EMU web page: Página do Equipamento Multiusuário não informada
• Type of equipment: Tipo de Equipamento Multiusuário não informado
• Manufacturer: Fabricante não informado
• Model: Modelo não informado

Abstract

The acquisition of an echocardiography system is of fundamental importance for the continuity of studies in projects related to cardiovascular disease. This equipment will allow the evaluation of cardiac function in humans and animals (rats and mice), as necessary for the study protocols and within the period specified in the investigations. Due to great demand for patient care at the Incor, together with the absence of echocardiographs at the USP School of Physical Education and Sport and the USP Institute of Biomedical Sciences, some experiments have been lost due to an inability to assess cardiac function after a trial intervention period, involving exercise or another procedure. This is a critical point for a group that has been competitive in the international literature and, above all, contributed with highly relevant information in the field of exercise physiology and cardiology. In addition, an echocardiograph could be useful for other groups at these and related facilities or institutes that investigate cardiac function in humans and animals. There are currently a great number of investigators in the state of São Paulo dedicated to determining the effects of exercise on the cardiovascular system in normal and pathological conditions. Via the FAPESP Multi-User Equipment Program, we are requesting a Vivid E9 echocardiography system. The system has the following features: single-beat 4D imaging, providing the full-volume acquisition data set for larger volumes in a single cycle; multiplanar imaging (biplanar, with visualization of two-dimensional images in two orthogonal planes simultaneously, and triplanar, with the acquisition of three apical images simultaneously from a single positioning of the transducer); slice mode, with six, nine or twelve cuts; 4D stress echo; special rendering maps/stereo vision; automatic LVQ tracking system for 4D calculation of ejection fraction, using temporal data, which provides results that are more reproducible and less subject to artifacts and variation in heart rate; and “Scan Assist”, with customizable protocols for optimizing cardiac resynchronization therapy and stress echo, automatically organizing slices, adjustments, and measurements. In addition, the system has speckle reduction imaging, an advanced technique of image processing that uses specific calculations with smoothing algorithms to maintain image definition, even for images of structures with discrete differences in echogenicity. Furthermore, with this device, a new type of software for automatic measurement of intima-media thickness, based on measurements taken at more than 100 points, can be used. (AU)