Veterans Affairs Medical Center - Vascular Imaging Research Center (VIRC)
David Saloner, PhD, Director, 415/750-2238

The VIRC investigates the assessment and treatment of vascular disease. Studies are directed at imaging of the vascular lumen and atherosclerotic disease of the vessel wall. Newer treatment modalities under investigation include the evaluation of the performance of bifurcated stent-grafts used in the treatment of aortic disease. In addition, investigators are interested in numerical and flow model studies of hemodynamics. Lab collaborators include imaging scientists, radiologists, and surgeons, and there is extensive interaction with theoretical and experimental engineers at UC Berkeley. MR imaging studies are performed on a state-of-the-art whole body scanner. Other equipment for imaging studies include ultrasound scanners, a laser Doppler velocimeter for high resolution fluid velocity measurements, and a wide variety of physiologically realistic flow models. Computational resources include high-speed computer workstations and computational code for fluid dynamics modeling. The center also has workstations for postprocessing three-dimensional data sets including stereoscopic presentation with depth encoding.

Research Directions:

• Conduct of a multi-center study to measure changes in atherosclerosis morphology over time
• Development of improved methods for flow quantitation in aneurysms
• Combined use of imaging and simulation in determining durability of stent-graft devices for treatment of aortic disease
• Evaluation of the use of computational methods for determining whether changes in aneurysm geometry correlate with hemodynamic effects

Recent Key References:

Jou LD, Rapp J, Saloner D. Transport of Contrast agents in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography. J Magn Reson Imaging 2004; 22:495-504.

Jou LD, Quick CM, Young WL, Lawton MT, Higashida R, Martin A, Saloner D. Computation approach to quantifying hemodynamic forces in giant cerebral aneurysms. Am J Neuroradiol; 2003; 24:1804-10.

Rapp JH, Saloner D. Current status of carotid imaging by MRA. Cardiovasc Surg 2003; 11:445-7.

Rapp JH, Pan XM, Yu B, Swanson R, Higashida R, Simpson P, Saloner D. Cerebral ischemia and infarction from atheroemboli. Stroke 2003; 64A:197-206.

Townsend TC, Saloner D, Pan XM, Rapp JH. Contrast material-enhanced MRA overestimates severity of carotid stenosis, compared with 3D time-of-flight MRA. J Vasc Surg 2003; 38:36-40.

Yu B, Pan XM, Saloner D, Troyer A, Rapp JH. Double-lumen carotid plaque: a morbid configuration. J Vasc Surg 2003; 37:1314-7.