Develop new and practical diagnostic technology for site and severity of arteriosclerosis

Project Leader	Takehisa MATSUDA Professor, Genome Biotechnology Laboratory, Kanazawa Institute of Technology
U R L	http://wwwr.kanazawa-it.ac.jp/gbl/index_ja.html
Participating Research Organizations   Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Kanazawa Univetsity, Okayama University, Industrial Research Institute of Ishikawa, Shibuya Kogyo Co.,ltd., Nipro Corp., Asahi Roentgen Co.,ltd., Ball Semiconductor Inc.

Last 20 years-effort has witnessed to see remarkable development of diagnostic and therapeutic devices for atherosclerotic diseases. However, more precision and wider applicability for diagnosis as well as nonthrombogenic arterial reconstruction for diseased vessels have been long-awaited. This project aims to 1) to develop advanced endoscopic devices capable of precise detection of site and severity of atherosclerotic vessel, and 2) to develop “nonthrombogenic” coating enabling rapid endothelialization of implanted devices (stent and small-diameter artificial graft). Diagnostic devices:
To identity the atherosclerotic sites and its severity using advanced endoscopes with high reliability and high function.
1) Ultrasopic imaging technology capable of simultaneously detecting both ahead and side views of arteries, and 2) Catheter capable of direct observation inside of abdominal artery under blood stream.

Therapeutic device:
Nonthrombogenic coating which enables in situ selective capture of 1. endothelial progenitor cells on implanted devices under flow.
2. Verification of in situ capture of endothelial progenitor cells (artificial graft).
3. Verification of in situ capture of endothelial progenitor cells (stent). 4D-IVUS, assembled with different discipline technology and knowledge, enables to diagnose the site and severity of diseased vessels with high quality and reliability, and is expected to contribute to future advanced cardiovascular therapeutic procedure.
Direct observation with an optical fibers-loaded catheter with saline solution-infusion function under blood flow is expected to provide a reliable base of appropriate therapeutic strategy.
Active coating, enabling selective capture, differentiation and proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells, must be defined as “ultimate biointerface” equivalent to native arterial wall. Once verified, wide application to any blood-contacting implant devices is expected.