Dr. Guoqiang Yu <http://www.uky.edu/~gyu2/>  (PhD), Assistant Professor in the Center for Biomedical Engineering, was recently awarded a 5-year R01 Bioengineering Research Grant (BRG) from the NIH for a project entitled, “Diffuse Optical Monitoring of Head and Neck Tumor Therapy”. This study is a multidisciplinary effort involving collaboration with Dr. Mahesh Kudrimoti (MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine), Dr. Scott Stevens (MD, Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Radiology), and Dr. Brent Shelton (PhD, Professor of Biostatistics). The project’s narrative follows. Treatment with radiation alone or in combination with chemotherapy is standard therapy for the head and neck cancers, but this treatment is well known to be less efficacious in patients with poorly-vascularized/hypoxic tumors. The objective of this project is to develop and test a low-cost clinical-level optical instrument that can quickly assess tumor hemodynamic and metabolic status and responses to cancer therapy in the early stages of treatment. This in depth assessment of tumor hemodynamic and metabolic properties will provide essential information for the early prediction and evaluation of treatment outcomes, thus enabling clinicians to optimize individual treatment. Dr. Guoqiang Yu awarded AHA grant

Dr. Guoqiang Yu (PhD), Assistant Professor in the Center for Biomedical Engineering, was recently awarded a two year grant from the American Heart Association (AHA) for a project entitled, “A Portable Optical Flow-Oximeter for Assessment of Cerebral Hemodynamics and Metabolism during Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)”. This study is a multi-disciplinary effort involving collaboration with Dr. Don Hayes (MD, Co-Investigator), Assistant Professor of Pediatrics–Pulmonology at the University of Kentucky Good Samaritan Hospital Sleep Disorders Center. The abstract follows.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is associated with fluctuations in blood pressure, hypercapnia, and cerebral blood flow (CBF). These perturbations can adversely affect CBF autoregulation and tissue metabolism, leading to physiological impairment or brain dysfunction. Advancing diagnostic technologies that elucidate information about physiological changes during those events would result in new insights about the pathophysiology of OSA-induced cerebral impairments and diseases (e.g., cognitive defect, stroke) and allow for individualized medical management based on the underlying pathophysiology. Although techniques exist to study cerebral metabolism such as MRI and PET, the routine use of these techniques is limited due to availability, expense, and difficulty to use at the clinical bedside. Optical signals, however, provide an exciting alternative to costly MRI and PET measurements. The goal of this study is to advance diffuse optical technologies by developing a high-throughput and portable optical device to simultaneously monitor CBF, cerebral oxygenation, and oxygen metabolism for the assessment of brain function in patients with OSA. Given the health burden of cerebrovascular events across a range of serious chronic conditions, this technology development project may significantly advance understanding of a range of cerebral impairments linked to oxygenation and metabolism, ultimately leading to significant improvements in human health.