A new diagnostic imaging technology that detects early-stage plaques may help identify lesions that cause myocardial infarctions (MIs) and strokes, according to new findings published in Advanced Functional Materials.
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) technology uses nanoparticles to identify high-risk atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries. The researchers behind this new analysis injected nanoparticles into mice that could actively seek out immune cells; this makes it possible to image the plaques in question.
“We shine light into an artery where we’ve delivered certain types of particles that can absorb that light,” senior author Bryan Smith, an associate professor in Michigan State University’s College of Engineering and director of the school's Translational NanoImmunoEngineering Lab, said in a prepared statement. “As a product of the release of that energy, they can literally shout back at us in ways that we can detect and use to create 3D images.”
The team hopes these findings represent a significant step toward using this technique in humans. Smith noted that one of the method's biggest strengths is its selectivity.
“There are certainly other methods to image plaques, but what distinguishes this strategy is that it’s cellular," he said. "We’re specifically looking at the cells—called macrophages and monocytes—that are most responsible for making a plaque vulnerable in the first place.”
According to the authors, the ability to identify the sites of inflammatory atherosclerotic plaque could lead to site-specific interventions such as drug-eluting stents or systemic treatments including statin therapy and other anti-inflammatory agents that are currently in development.
“Currently, there is no effective way to accurately locate and treat vulnerable plaques before they lead to a heart attack or stroke,” collaborator Eliver Ghosn, PhD, an assistant professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, said in the same statement. “We hope our studies will help change that.”
Read the full analysis in Advanced Functional Materials here.