Kenny Nguyen/Dr. Jonathan Weinsaft - Week 1

Week 1: 06/05/23 – 06/09/23

I am working in the Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Laboratory for my Summer Immersion term under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Weinsaft. For my first week, I am shadowing the Cardiology fellows in the lab to see their day-to-day workflow and to get a better understanding of the tools/software used to diagnose cardiac diseases. Here, I was exposed to the different imaging modalities, or techniques, such as echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT). Specifically, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a set of MRI techniques that is the gold standard for noninvasive imaging of cardiac function and viability due to its ability to simultaneously visualize both cardiac function and anatomy. I had the privilege of witnessing an MRI procedure and seeing the complex equipment used when conducting non-invasive imaging. I learned that most CMR scans are timed to synchronize with the patient’s heartbeat during specific phases of the heart’s contraction and relaxation to minimize distortion or blurring from cardiac motion. Additionally, I learned that extracellular agents such as gadolinium contrast medium are injected into a patient’s veins to show the passage of blood in the heart during cardiac imaging. All of these techniques ensure that the images produced will help the radiologist accurately diagnose diseases.

 

As part of my shadowing, I witnessed the fellows perform a variety of clinical assessments of a patient’s heart to assess cardiovascular morphology, ventricular function, and many other characterizations needed to make an informed diagnosis. I learned the different types of assessments called anatomical and functional assessments that identified changes in morphologies for various cardiovascular disorders using parameters such as end-diastolic volume and end-systolic volume. Other characterizations such as tissue and flow characterizations identify scarred regions of myocardial tissue and measure blood flow velocity across the cardiac valves, respectively. The prognosis of a patient with heart disease is heavily influenced by these parameters which aid the radiologist in making informed interpretations of images. Shadowing the fellows in the lab has opened my eyes to the high level of expertise that a radiologist possesses. They approached each case with meticulous attention to detail by piecing together fragments of information from a variety of imaging modalities. Throughout the week, I was able to see the whole procedure from witnessing an MRI procedure to sitting in the case study review before it is signed off and uploaded for the patient to see. Experiencing these procedures firsthand greatly enriched my understanding of how noninvasive cardiovascular imaging is performed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Carlos Urrea / Dr. Sabrina Strickland : Week 8

 This was the final week of the Immersion program. On Monday, I shadowed Dr. Strickland in the OR for the last time where she performed two tibial tubercle osteotomy distalizations. I also got to help my labmate, Salman Matan, collect healthy articular cartilage samples. On Tuesday, it was my last day helping in the biomechanics lab. On top of helping Kalle with the usual testing and calibration, I watched how they tested a PVA meniscus in the joint simulator. It was interesting to see how the PVA meniscus could be used as a replacement and how testing is done to verify its mechanical compliance. On Wednesday, I shadowed Dr. Strickland in the clinic where again I got to see the patient-clinician interaction and the imaging diagnostic process. On Thursday, I presented about the immersion program to the HSS group and got to talk about how the research I did during the summer connects back to my research project in Ithaca. Finally on Friday, due to my presentation, Dr. Scott Rodeo inv...
Read more

Ana Witkowski / Dr. Bostrom Week 8

 This summer has gone by so fast! This week was mostly just wrapping up the summer. I went and saw a little bit more of the mouse gait analysis and acclimation. Learning how to acclimate the mice for the gait analysis is super important for the consistency of the data, as mice that haven’t been acclimatized to the treadmill have a much wider spread and learning curve over the experiment. We learned how the mice get tire after about a minute of running, even if you spread that minute out over a couple bouts of running, which was super important for the next couple days of acclimation.  I also got the opportunity this week to shadow in the Gait and Motion Analysis lab for a case. I have never seen the human gait analysis before, so I was immensely grateful for this opportunity! I spent the afternoon learning about the cameras and the calibration, watching a full PT exam, and then watching a gait analysis videotaping. There are 14 cameras, 4 force plates, and so many reflective s...
Read more

Cindy Tung/Dr. Susan Gauthier - Week 8

This was the last week of immersion and I spent my time in the lab working with our mice injected with a  breast cancer cell line. This was week three post-injection, and it was time to resect the tumor sample. Before resection, we imaged the mice, taking note to measure their weight and hydrating their eyes with vaseline as they cannot close their eyes under isoflurane. In collaboration with people at HSS, we also performed a cardiac puncture to gather blood samples, as well as a spine resection. A cardiac puncture is a terminal procedure that is performed by poking a hole in the heart and using a syringe to pull blood. Because the heart still pumps blood for several beats, the previous step is repeated so when the heart refills with blood, it can be extracted accordingly.  This summer has provided me with so much invaluable experiences, from working with small animals to gaining a deeper understanding of how the healthcare system works.  I shadowed clinicians in neurora...
Read more