When a heart valve leaks, cardiologists are forced to use very simple ‘eyeball’ methods to assess whether the leak is mild, moderate or severe. Dr Corinna Bergamini, an international research fellow from the University of Verona’s well-known cardiac imaging service, is collaborating with Imperial College’s valve disease team to develop a new technology for measuring the severity of leaking heart valves. Dr Bergamini is working with Dr Anura Malaweera, Imperial College Medical School, and Professor Kim Parker and Professor Yun Xu, Imperial College Engineering Department to develop a new method which could permit rapid, reliable quantifications of the size of the leak on heart scans.
‘Innovative technology will make it easier to follow patients’ progress, decide who should have surgery and when, and to trial new therapies more effectively.’
Dr Corinna Bergamini