Investigators: Valentín Fuster, Luis Jesús Jiménez Borreguero, Zahi Fayad, Juan José Badimón, Borja Ibañez, Juan Carlos Murciano, Jesús Mateo

This laboratory specializes in the study of cardiovascular changes associated with four large areas and situations: aortic territory (especially in the pathology of aneurisms), brain and aging, vascular regeneration (“vasa vasorum”) and atherothrombosis as an inflammatory disease. The experimental animal models chosen to carry out these studies are: rat, mouse, rabbit and pig. To find more details on these studies, visit the section IMAGING DEPARTMENT PROJECTS. 

Imaging research tools will be developing for: 1) New targeted contrast agents for MRI and CT, as well as radiopharmaceuticals for PET. 2) MRI new sequences to address projects on MR coronary angiography, BOLD projects (“blood oxygenation level dependent”). 3) Development of CT technology and methods that can be applied to the classification of coronary atheromatous plaques. 4) Post-processing software for multimodal imaging data and to obtain quantitative values such as volume, proportions, etc., which will allow tissue to be calculated through the optimization of algorithms.

1. Preclinical development of the new hybrid PET/RM system in arteriosclerosis and in myocardial infarction models in rabbits.
2. Preclinical development in mice from new imaging technology based in the “Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI)” equipment, an innovative  system for acquiring images that is different from the current magnetic resonance imaging technique.
3. Studies based on nanotechnology, specifically on the detection of at-risk atheromatous plaques components at the molecular and cellular level including active macrophages, lipoproteins, cholesterol and fibrin using imaging studies with MRI and contrasts agents, as well as studies on neovascularization of the plaque’s “vasa vasorum” using ultrasensitive perfusion techniques and multimodal PET/MR imaging studies.
4. Therapeutic nanotechnology will be targeted for pigs with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease to modify the inflammatory components, including metabolic processes in specific cells membranes. That is MR guided peptides and micelles toward the inflammatory cells. 
5. Projects for therapeutic applications with imaging technology through “targeted MR contrast agents” trials with HDL and drug-containing gas microbubbles that can be released using ultrasound at the target site.
6. Assessement of the three phases of the injury in myocardial infarction.Addressing myocardial infarction in the pig model in order to modify this disease. Different mechanisms of targeting are designed to discover how the different elements (collagen, apoptotic cells, metalloproteinases and inflammation cells) interact in the three phases of the injury. Annexin will be also evaluated as a result of the apoptotic process.
7. Projects in rabbit’s models for in vivo assessment of atheroma plaques physiology by using MR contrast agents based in Gd-chelating lipids that coordinate two water molecules into HDL.

• NanoPET/CT
• 7 Tesla MicroMR
• Optical imaging
•  Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
• Small animal echocardiography
• Intravital Microscopy
• Contrast agents development laboratory
• 3 Tesla MRI
• PET/CT (Multidetectors CT) for large animals.
• Mobile Rx catheterization