# MR Quantification of Myocardial Oxygen Utilization in Chronic Myocardial Infarction without Contrast

> **NIH NIH K25** · ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $166,141

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The overall goal of this research is to develop a quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) approach of
oxygen utilization that provides a non-invasive and effective imaging test for the assessment of myocardial
infarction. According to the most recent Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update (2015) published by the
American Heart Association, almost 1 out of every 3 deaths in the United States (US) is caused by
cardiovascular diseases that include coronary artery disease (CAD) every year. Over $40 billion is spent on
cardiac stress tests each year, and nearly 1.5 million individuals are undergo percutaneous coronary
intervention or coronary artery bypass surgery to treat severe CAD after nuclear stress test screening.
However, the occurrence of obstructive CAD found during invasive stenting/pre-surgical coronary X-ray
angiography is less than 40%. The current screening paradigm is expensive, exposes patients to ionizing
radiation, and carries additional risks of intimal injury and acute vessel dissection. Cardiac Magnetic
Resonance Imaging is a non-invasive imaging modality that currently is the gold standard for the quantitative
assessment of ventricular function and myocardial viability evaluation.
In particular, LGE can assess viable or non-viable myocardial tissue by interrogating the delayed response to
gadolinium-based contrast agent administration. While this LGE assessment is robust, this reference
evaluation leaves no room for further improvements via scan-time reduction, and forces any further
quantification of underlying tissue pathophysiology to be obtained as separate scans that prolong each patient
exam. Accordingly, the 30-plus minute LGE-CMR exam with contrast injection is the widely established, and
definitive state-of-art.
The scientific premise for this research is that MRI of oxygen utilization provides correlative information on the
extent of viable or non-viable tissue without contrast injection. We hypothesize that a non-contrast MR
quantification of oxygen utilization in less than one minute of additional scan-time to current routine cardiac
MR protocol may offer a new paradigm-shifting, fast alternative evaluation of myocardial infarctions without
the need for contrast injection.
Hence, we aim to: 1) develop the pulse sequence and advanced image reconstruction methods to quantify
myocardial oxygen utilization; 2) validate this method in the patient cohort, and 3) evaluate the proposed
cardiac MRI evaluation in a single-center patient imaging setting over a 3-year span in two subject cohorts.
The outcome of this work is not only the scientific findings pertaining to the feasibility of the proposed MRI
method, but also the compilation of an extensive 200-patient database including all quantitative study
measurements of the state-of-the-art MRI evaluations, patient data including outcomes, as well as findings
from other modalities such as x-ray catheter (and echo) if these are also performed.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9855069
- **Project number:** 5K25HL141634-02
- **Recipient organization:** ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Keigo Kawaji
- **Activity code:** K25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $166,141
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9855069

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9855069, MR Quantification of Myocardial Oxygen Utilization in Chronic Myocardial Infarction without Contrast (5K25HL141634-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9855069. Licensed CC0.

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