A new research collaboration, led by the University of Glasgow, is looking to develop computational tools to improve treatments for one of the world’s most common causes of death.

The newly-established EPSRC Centre for Future PCI Planning aims to better outcomes from a frequently-performed treatment for heart artery disease.

The Centre is supported by £1.25 million in new funding from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, and doctors at the University of Glasgow—alongside partners in industry and academia— are set to take a new approach to planning treatment of the disease.

One of the most effective treatments for the disease is percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

It involves placing a scaffolding stent device or balloon to unblock the artery. These devices also deliver drugs to reduce the chances of the artery re-narrowing in the future.

Despite the lifesaving successes of PCI procedures, more than a quarter of patients in the UK will require repeat treatments, putting patients at risk of future problems, including heart attacks.

Currently, doctors have limited tools to guide them how best to treat the condition and to predict if the PCI will be successful for an individual.

However, the Centre intends to revolutionise the way in which procedures are undertaken by developing computational tools to enable the tailoring of the procedure for each individual patient.

The key to doing this is the use of cutting-edge techniques to analyse images of the narrowed heart arteries, creating a more complete picture of plaque buildup.

Over the next four years, the Centre’s researchers will look to find new ways to harness the full potential of the information available from imaging to improve the outcomes of each patient’s procedure.

Using high-quality images gathered from clinical trials in centres across both Scotland and the globe, the team will build on existing mathematical models to develop better ways to visualise each stage of PCI procedures.

Importantly, the team is aiming to build these tools while reducing the computer processing expense by leveraging the power of AI.

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“Our population is living longer than ever before, partly because we now have very good treatments for heart artery disease,” commented Dr Sean McGinty, of the James Watt School of Engineering, the project’s principal investigator.

“While that is undoubtedly good news for individuals and their families, healthcare services are being increasingly stretched.

“What we’re aiming to do with this project is develop faster and more robust methods to improve the effectiveness of treatments and significantly reduce the number of repeat PCI procedures.

“As well as delivering better results for patients, this will make a big difference to healthcare budgets in the future.

“By the end of this project, we will have developed a suite of computational tools, that we aim to integrate into the imaging and diagnostic systems already in use to deliver PCI treatments.

“We’re looking forward to playing our part in improving PCI procedures and providing the best possible outcomes for patients and health services alike.”

The Centre is supported by collaborators in clinical care, academia, and industry including: Aarhus University Hospital, Abbott Vascular, Biosensors Europe SA. Boston Scientific, Cardiovascular Research Center Aalst, Columbia University Medical Centre, Golden Jubilee National Hospital, MedAlliance Ltd, Medis Medical Imaging System, Pie Medical Imaging, and Politecnico di Torino.