Non-invasive aortic aneurysm detection (v. 1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Towards developing a non-invasive device to detect aortic aneurysms.
IRAS ID
162053
Contact name
Perumal Nithiarasu
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Swansea University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
Approximately 4% of men between the age of 65 and 74 in the UK have an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). About 6000 deaths occur in England and Wales as a result of an AAA rupture. A multi-centre trial clearly shows that scanning the elderly men prevents deaths/cost. To extend the trial to all men above 65 is expensive and poses practical issues. Thus, a pre-screening device to select patients at the primary care would be extremely useful. Since AAAs are extreme examples of arterial alteration, the pressure pulse is dramatically changed by their presence. The degree of pulse change at the arterial extremities however is not very well established. A recent modelling effort clearly sheds light on how the pulse is altered along the radial artery (wrist) in the presence of an AAA. The result clearly demonstrates that a significant and detectable pulse alteration is possible even for a 50% increase in abdominal aorta size. This is a significant outcome and needs further investigation to take the project towards commercial exploitation.
The proposed project is the second phase that models conglomeration of arterial diseases and compares clinical measurements against model data. Once the proposed second phase is completed, the third phase of the project would develop a prototype. A successful development of the proposed device will cut costs significantly and create extremely valuable IP. Since all the technology is developed in Swansea, the full IP of the proposed device stays within Swansea and Wales.
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NE/1118
Date of REC Opinion
10 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion