Research on improved cardiac imaging published in Scientific Reports

Robotics Engineering Ph.D. Candidate, Shang Gao, Robotics Engineering undergraduate student, Haotian Liu, and Associate Professor Haichong (Kai) Zhang, faculty member in the Departments of Robotics Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and affiliated faculty member with the Department of Computer Science, have led pioneering research in image-guided interventions, resulting in the publication of a research paper, “Enhancing Boundary Detection of Radiofrequency Ablation Lesions through Photoacoustic Mapping,” in the journal Scientific Reports.

The paper presents a new approach for improving the detection of ablation lesion boundaries using photoacoustic imaging. This technique helps clinicians more accurately assess lesions in real time during cardiac ablation procedures. Ablation procedures are often used to treat atrial fibrillation, a common type of heart arrhythmia.

By using a regression model, the method outlined in the paper provides accurate measurement of the lesion size, allowing for clearer visualization of treatment. This improvement supports better decision-making during surgery and reduces the chances of incomplete or excessive ablation. Collaborators included experts from The Texas Heart Institute and The University of Texas at Austin, contributing to the project’s success. The advanced facilities at WPI’s PracticePoint provided a state-of-the-art environment for testing and refining the imaging techniques in simulated clinical settings, which enabled the team to optimize the system for more realistic intraoperative conditions in cardiac ablation. 

This study builds on Gao and Zhang’s prior work, “Cardiac-Gated Spectroscopic Photoacoustic Imaging for Ablation-Induced Necrotic Lesion Visualization,” published in the Journal of Biophotonics. In collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and Siemens Healthineers, the team introduced a novel cardiac-gated spectroscopic photoacoustic imaging technique, marking the first time ablated tissue visualization has been achieved on a beating heart using this technology.

These publications mark a significant step forward in the field of image-guided surgical interventions and highlight WPI’s commitment to advancing medical technology. 

Gao, a member of WPI’s Medical FUSION (Frontier Ultrasound Imaging and Robotic Instrumentation) Laboratory, has an academic background in Robotics Engineering from WPI and dual Bachelor of Engineering degrees from the University of Detroit Mercy and Beijing University of Chemical Technology. He is also the recipient of the 2023 Robert F. Wagner All-Conference Best Student Paper Award from SPIE Medical Imaging, a conference of the international society for optics and photonics. His research focuses on medical robotics, photoacoustic imaging, and image-guided interventions.