Grant to UB's Toshiba Stroke Research Center Fuels Advances In Blood-Flow Dynamics, High-Powered Imaging

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Toshiba Stroke Research Center at the University at Buffalo has received a three-year, $500,000 grant to further its pioneering work in improving prevention and treatment of strokes.

The grant from Toshiba American Medical Systems, which established the center at UB in 1996 with a $3.6 million gift, will fund research on the dynamics of blood flow and improving the ability to view structures in the brain while decreasing X-ray exposure.

One of the most advanced neuroimaging facilities in the world, the center houses a multidisciplinary research team of experts from neurosurgery, mechanical and aerospace engineering, radiation, physics, computer science, surface science, clinical engineering and neurology. Grants from The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and the John R. Oishei Foundation, both of Buffalo, also helped launch the center.

The new grant will support work in progress in two areas: region-of-interest (ROI) fluoroscopy and blood-flow analysis.

Researchers on the fluoroscopy project are developing a high-resolution image processing unit to provide the clearest possible view of pin-pointed sites, or "regions of interest," in the brain, while at the same time decreasing the patient's X-ray exposure during diagnosis and treatment.

The newest treatments for stroke involve threading tiny instruments through the veins in the body until they reach affected areas in the brain, where they are used to seal aneurysms, dissolve blood clots, or place an implant. Imaging methods that provide clear views of tiny blood vessels and miniature implants deep within the brain are critical to their success.

UB researchers in the center's Hemodynamics Division are studying blood-flow patterns and their effects on atherosclerosis, aneurysms and blood-vessel malformations, all major causes of stroke. Colleagues in the Prostheses Design Division will use this information to design better implants, which are used to correct aberrant blood flow.

This work has enabled L. Nelson Hopkins, M.D., UB professor and chair of neurosurgery, professor of radiology and the center's director, to successfully implant in two patients an experimental stent designed by UB researchers specifically for use in patching brain aneurysms. The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the stent for experimental purposes in July.

Successful new imaging capabilities, implant design, and surgical techniques developed at the Toshiba Stroke Research Center will lead to better treatment and prevention of stroke in humans, the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and the number-one cause of adult disability.