Grant: Project Grant

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) revascularization is a minimally invasive treatment to remedy occlusions in femoral arteries, but it's success in long occlusions has been limited by the technical challenges associated with crossing occluded vessels with guidewires. Revascularization needs to be planned and guided closely using ionizing imaging modalities such as fluoroscopy, while intra-vascular catheters lack the capability of measuring non-invasively blood flow or estimate plaque or occlusion stiffness at the blockage site. In recent years, our team has developed new optical sensing technologies measuring light deflections within optical fibers for biomedical applications, surpassing the accuracy of traditional sensors based on Bragg gratings. These continuous random sensors were tested in-vivo to measure 3D shapes of medical devices such as needles, guidewire and surgical robots, and enabled the visualization of catheters to monitor the therapeutic response during intra-vascular procedures. The primary objective of this project is to fabricate a biocompatible multi-modal sensing guidewire integrating a optical fibers with random optical gratings. The device will be able to simultaneously measure: 1) 3D shape and location, 2) blood flow in peripheral arteries and 3) the pressure applied by the guidewire on surrounding tissue. Clinical proof of concept will be performed in 20 patients with occlusive peripheral artery diseases undergoing PTA. A recently developed real-time deep learning motion prediction tool will continuously adjust the fusion of the tracked guidewire with diagnostic imaging, facilitating translation toward effective clinical utilization for targeted treatments. The long-term research goal is to allow a more effective utilization and integration of guidewire devices combined with non-invasive imaging modalities, in order to improve true lumen re-entry, and ultimately, a better outcome for patients requiring catheterization procedures.