According to the World Health Organization, almost 18 million lives are lost due to cardiovascular-related diseases each year. Approximately 85% of these deaths are the result of heart attacks and strokes.

Scientists at Michigan State University have developed a potentially life-saving imaging technique designed to spot heart attacks before they strike.

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There are several ways to improve your heart health; for example, research has shown that being active increases heart attack survival by up to 45%. Nonetheless, patients would have a higher chance of preventing heart attacks if they were alerted to them beforehand. That is the concept underlying a novel imaging method created by a Spartan-led team of scientists.

Detecting potential impending heart attacks using sound, light, and nanoparticles

Associate professor Bryan Ronain Smith, one of the authors, stated that he and his team shine light into an artery to which they inserted certain types of particles that can absorb that light. "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."

Although the human ear cannot perceive the sound signal, it is relatively easy to register with an ultrasonic transducer.

The new technology was first showcased in mice. According to Smith and his colleagues, it can now be used to directly scan atherosclerotic plaques, which are fatty clumps that develop in arteries and can contribute to heart attacks and strokes.

According to Smith, the value of their new method can be found in its selectivity. There are other methods to image plaques currently in existence. But what differentiates this approach is that it's cellular. The researchers were specifically looking at the cells (known as macrophages and monocytes) that are most accountable for making a plaque vulnerable in the first place.

Although it is challenging to show if a specific plaque is to blame for a patient's stroke or heart attack, Smith believes that susceptible plaques are the most hazardous. These are inflammatory plaques that might burst and obstruct blood arteries.

Vulnerable plaques include a large number of immune cells, particularly macrophages and monocytes, in addition to fatty deposits. Smith and his colleague created nanoparticles, which are extremely small tubules comprised of carbon atoms that naturally and precisely seek out these cells.

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In injecting the particles, scientists send the tubes seeking specific immune cells that gather in plaques. After that, scientists can aim a laser light at the arteries. If there is a plaque present, the particles will absorb the light and transmit sound waves. Following that, the scientists will utilize this signal to determine the locations of the plaque and visualize it.

Smith explains that, when comparing a normal blood artery to one with a plaque, the one with the plaque has far more macrophages and monocytes. Smith and his team's technique is primarily concerned with monocytes and macrophages. There are virtually no other cell types that take up the nanoparticles.

In the future, clinicians may image arterial plaques precisely and noninvasive through Smith and his team's innovations with nanoparticles.

Eliver Ghosn, assistant professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, stated that this amazing advancement in nanomedicine would not have been achieved without our multidisciplinary team of specialists.

At the moment, there is no efficient technique to precisely detect and treat susceptible plaques before they cause a heart attack or stroke. The researchers believe that their research can help to change that!

One additional hopeful development is that Smith's lab has been able to pack the nanoparticles with a drug that can mitigate plaque. Scientists will investigate whether there are even more valuable applications for these promising particles in the future.

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