Grant: Operating Grant

Despite advances in medical and surgical therapies, the morbidity and mortality of patients with chronic coronary artery disease and heart failure remains high. For patients who fail to improve with conventional treatments and whose heart function continues to deteriorate, novel therapies to improve cardiac pumping function are needed. Promising new techniques involves either genes, or special cells called "progenitor" cells. These cells are derived from the blood or bone-marrow, and have the ability to develop into new vessels or heart muscle cells. We have developed novel ultrasound techniques using microbubbles that can be targeted to the heart, and can be used to deliver gene or cell therapy, without the use of direct injections. A non-invasive means of delivery would facilitate an easy and safe method for repeated delivery in patients. This present research, if successful, will lead to a non-invasive method of delivering novel treatments to promote new vessel formation, limit heart muscle death and improve cardiac function in patients with severe symptomatic heart failure.