# Placental Functional Imaging to Predict Preeclampsia Therapeutic Outcomes

> **NIH NIH R01** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2022 · $316,540

## Abstract

There is a lack of reliable tools to assess the impact of promising treatments for preeclampsia on placental
function and development; assessment of treatment efficacy is typically determined through measurements of
maternal mean arterial pressure, which are not always correlated with fetal outcome. In the absence of such
technology, the promise of an improved mechanistic understanding of preeclampsia pathophysiology —
necessary for the development of novel treatments to improve patient outcomes — will likely remain unfulfilled.
The long-term goal of this effort is to develop new functional imaging methods to improve the treatment of
preeclampsia. The overall objective in this application is to establish new functional imaging methods to
longitudinally measure in vivo placental perfusion, ischemia, and placental angiogenesis. Our central
hypothesis is that fetal outcomes can be predicted by longitudinally monitoring placental perfusion, hypoxia,
and angiogenesis using spectral photoacoustic (sPA) and targeted contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)
imaging. This hypothesis was formulated based on preliminary data from our lab and others establishing sPA
imaging as a method to estimate longitudinal placental tissue oxygenation in vivo, and CEUS as a method to
quantify in vivo tissue perfusion and angiogenesis. The rationale for the proposed research is that improved
methods for longitudinal in vivo monitoring of preeclampsia will provide more accurate preclinical validation of
potential treatments for preeclampsia. Guided by strong preliminary data, this hypothesis will be tested by
pursuing two specific aims: 1) the development of methods to image in vivo placental oxygenation changes in
response to therapy; and 2) the development of methods to image the longitudinal impact of therapies on
placental growth. Under the first aim, spectral photoacoustic imaging will be implemented to estimate placental
oxygenation during treatment; the imaging methods and the model of preeclampsia which will be used in this
project, the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat, have both been established as feasible in the
applicants' hands. Under the second aim, contrast-enhanced ultrasound will be implemented to longitudinally
track alterations in placental perfusion during preeclampsia treatment. Preliminary data in support of this
objective demonstrates CEUS as a method of assessing placental perfusion and angiogenesis. This approach
is innovative, because it represents a substantive departure from the status quo by shifting the research focus
from maternal systemic dysfunction, to placental dysfunction, long recognized as the dominant underlying
regulator in the development of preeclampsia. The establishment of multimodal in vivo imaging of placental
function will constitute a significant improvement towards characterizing the physiological environment of the
placenta during preeclampsia; acquiring this missing information is expected to open up new therapeuti...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10440310
- **Project number:** 5R01HD097466-04
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** Carolyn Louise Bayer
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $316,540
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-15 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10440310

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10440310, Placental Functional Imaging to Predict Preeclampsia Therapeutic Outcomes (5R01HD097466-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10440310. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*