SBIR/STTR Award attributes
ABSTRACT The World Health Organization lists cardiovascular disease as the most common cause of death worldwide atof all deathsCoronary artery calciumCACscoring has become the most reliable predictor of future coronary artery diseaseCADevents in the asymptomatic populationCAC scores are currently only reported on ECG gated CT examinations that are ordered when the primary indication is cardiac in natureHoweverinthere weremillion non cardiac thoracic CT scans ordered with lungs as the primary indication where CAC scores could have been reportedAn additionalmillion CT lung screening scans are expected to be ordered per year as lung screening programs growBecause lung cancer risk factors and CAD risk factors overlap significantlymost these patients could benefit greatly from having their CAC score reported as part of their non cardiac CT examinationThis could dramatically improve decision makingquality of careand lower expenses due to future CAD interventions and cardiac specific CT scansThe goal of this project is to develop a fully automated software application that can report CAC scores on both gated and ungated thoracic CT scans with seamless integration into the Radiology workflowA successful completion of this project will deliver a product capable of dramatically increasing the number of people that receive early intervention for CADthereby increasing quality of care and lowering costsThis Phase I application proposes first creating an algorithm capable of automatically calculating global CAC scores from both ECG gated and ungated CT scans using CAC segmentations performed by an expert physicianIf successfulthe Phase II project will perform robust clinical validation adequate for an FDAksubmission NARRATIVE The goal of this project is to develop a fully automated software application that can report CAC scores on both gated and ungated thoracic CT scans with seamless integration into the Radiology workflowA successful completion of this project will deliver a product capable of dramatically increasing the number of people that receive early intervention for CADthereby increasing quality of care and lowering costs
