Research in cardiovascular and respiratory medicine
Our research in this area ranges from understanding how changes in artery-wall stiffness affect blood pressure and cardiovascular health through to using advanced simulations to understand and treat cardiovascular conditions.
Areas of particular research interest include:
- arterial stiffness and pulsatility
- computational blood flow analysis
- the relationship between cardiac disease and chronic kidney disease.
A recognised research strength of MQ Health is understanding how the ‘pulsatility’ of the cardiovascular system can affect our health.
Pulsatility is the endless progression of pressure waves that travel through the aorta and other arteries due to the pumping of the heart. Another term for pulsatility is haemodynamics.
Our arteries naturally stretch to accommodate these pressure waves, but problems arise when arteries start to stiffen with age or due to other medical conditions. This stiffening leads to high blood pressure (or hypertension) and often to other complications.
MQ Health’s studies of pulsatility include:
- explorations of the mechanics and biological behaviour of artery walls and how cardiovascular control and biological signal processing occur
- measuring how changes in artery properties alter blood pressure and thereby affect ‘end organs’, particularly the brain.
Insights from this work allow us to develop and test new and more precise ways of measuring blood pressure and arterial stiffness, often in collaboration with industry partners.
These tools will give clinicians a clearer and perhaps earlier picture of underlying risk factors and problems than the traditional blood pressure cuff alone.
Research within MQ Health is using computational simulation techniques, such as computational fluid dynamics, to understand otherwise inaccessible aspects of cardiovascular disease.
Such simulations allow detailed computation of cardiovascular haemodynamics, which give new insights into the functions of the cardiovascular system.
Using this approach, MQ Health researchers can create a three-dimensional computer model of a patient’s arteries from detailed medical imaging data. The patient's blood flow is simulated by applying computational fluid dynamics to the model, including allowance for the pulsatile expansion of the arteries.
Such simulations are also starting to provide the means to do virtual trials of ‘personalised’ treatments for patients with cardiovascular disease and conditions.
A focus of cardiovascular research within MQ Health is examining the fundamental links between chronic kidney disease, such as polycystic kidney disease, and cardiac disease. For those who suffer from such diseases, their greatest risk of death is from cardiovascular complications, rather than the disease itself.
Our research seeks to find out how disease-induced abnormalities in the central nervous system, as well as other effects of the kidney disease, cause cardiovascular problems. Our goal is to find better ways to treat and prevent these cardiovascular complications, rather than simply treating the symptoms.