Sodium Adipose & Lymphatics Translational Imaging Lab
At the center of what we do:
Our mission is to innovate sodium, adipose, and lymphatic translational (SALT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to reduce lymphatic disease burden.
Current research projects aim to apply SALT MRI to understand vascular mechanisms of tissue sodium storage in human lymphedema, lipedema, and salt sensitive blood pressure. SALT imaging developments are ongoing for preclinical and clinical applications.
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If you share our mission and want to learn more about research collaboration, participating in current studies, or available positions in the lab, please message:
saltlab at uvahealth.org
Lymphedema
Imaging Sodium and Lymphatics in Lymphedema
Lymphatics play an understudied role in sodium homeostasis. Part of the challenge to studying lymphatic physiology in humans is a lack of noninvasive experimental methods. In this study we test whether SALT MRI tools can observe lymphatic physiology in human lymphedema. By applying sodium MRI and MR Lymphangiography together, we aim to measure relationships between lymphatic function and tissue sodium during disease progression and treatment response. MRI methods could be translated into future clinical trials, and hopefully impact lymphatic disease care.
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), R01HL155523 Project Summary
Progress: Enrolling participants! Learn more about this registered clinical trial: NCT05242900
SALT Lab members at the American Venous and Lymphatic Society (AVLS) meeting presenting imaging science in 2022. Pictured left to right: Rachelle Crescenzi, Vanessa Crain, Shannon Taylor, Paula Donahue.
Noninvasive MR Lymphangiography uses turbo-spin-echo 3T MRI to observe tissue edema as hyper-intense signal in the legs of a participant with lipedema. Adapted from Figure 2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35657120/
Lipedema
Lipedema is a challenging disease to diagnose and differentiate from obesity or lymphedema. This work will address clinical unmet needs for objective tools to aid differential diagnosis of lipedema using advanced MRI methods, in sequence with portable clinical devices. We are testing fundamental hypotheses about objective screening tools, lymphatic therapy, and vascular dysfunction in patients with lipedema.
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), R01HL157378 Project Summary
Progress: Enrolling participants! Learn more about this registered clinical trial: NCT05464927
SALT Lab members after installation of a new 3T MRI scanner in UVA Radiology Research. Pictured left to right: Rachelle Crescenzi, Allison O'Brien Scott, Zola Bzdek, Vanessa Crain.
Technology
To overcome technological barriers to studying lymphatics and tissue sodium together in humans, this project focuses on an innovative goal to expand magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies for measuring (i) tissue sodium content, (ii) lymphatic vascular morphology, and (iii) lymphatic function by 3T MRI to improve image quality parameters, such as spatial resolution. Development and validation of improved imaging methods to measure tissue sodium and lymphatic physiology in humans may insight new avenues of translational investigation. ​​
Sponsor: University of Virginia Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging​
Progress: MRI technology development is the research focus of graduate student Zola Bzdek, PhD Candidate, UVA Physics.
Salt & Blood Presure
Salt sensitive blood pressure (SSBP) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Determining a person's salt sensitivity requires lengthy dietary protocols that are not practical in the clinic, and provide limited information about the mechanisms of salt sensitivity. The aims of this study are to improve our understanding of vascular mechanisms of human salt storage, and to evaluate potential radiologic biomarkers for SSBP.
Sponsor: American Heart Association Career Development Award​
Progress: manuscripts being prepared for peer-review in scientific journals
Standardized 23Na-MRI of tissue sodium content in the lower extremity acquired by SALT Lab on a 3T MRI scanner in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science.