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Cardiovascular IMAGING
State-of-the-art imaging services are at the heart of the Frankel CVC’s heart and vascular programs and research enterprise. Imaging specialists with specialized training and the highest level of credentialing use advanced techniques to provide unparalleled levels of detail, including imaging of the most complex cardiac diseases. Strong interdisciplinary collaboration with specialists throughout the Cardiovascular Center and U-M Health ensures effective diagnosis, analysis, and treatment for patients.
Cardiovascular images can be transferred electronically to promote provider-to-provider and patient-to-provider communication with Frankel CVC clinical cardiologists.
THE FRANKEL CVC DIFFERENCE
NUCLEAR CARDIOLOGY AND PET IMAGING CENTER
• The center is equipped with the latest SPECT/CT and PET/CT imaging systems that enable the most precise measurement of blood flow to heart muscle. Frankel CVC specialists employ novel approaches to detect and quantify blood flow abnormalities due to coronary artery disease as well as inflammation in the heart muscle due to cardiac sarcoidosis, myocarditis and cardiac infection.
• Our fully digital PET/CT imaging system offers double the resolution with 50% lower radiation exposure than prior technologies. The digital PET/CT is also faster than traditional SPECT/CT, reducing stress testing time from three hours to approximately 30 minutes.
• With over 15 years of cardiac PET experience, the Frankel CVC is the largest PET program in Michigan.
50% LOWER RADIATION EXPOSURES with PET-CT Scanner
CARDIAC MRI
• Frankel CVC’s magnetic resonance scanners are equipped with the latest technology to improve image quality and reduce blurring of images due to pacemakers/ICDs, difficulty with breath holding, and abnormal heart rhythms. We are experienced in safely performing MRI imaging in patients with pacemakers and ICDs, regardless of whether the device is MRI conditional.
• Our team is comprised entirely of fellowship-trained cardiothoracic radiologists and cardiologists with deep experience in a wide variety of cardiac diseases. Our cardiac MRI physicians and technologists are dedicated to detailed assessment of cardiovascular anatomy; accurate measurement of cardiac function, shunt quantification and stress perfusion; assessment of valvular pathologies; and identification of areas of cardiac scarring — all critical steps in planning advanced cardiac interventions.
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY
• U-M is a nationally recognized leader in cardiac imaging
• We are a highly trained team of board-certified interpreting cardiologists, cardiac sonographers, exercise physiologists, and nurses.
• Frankel CVC’s state-of-the-art imaging center offers the most advanced echo imaging modalities available. Services include transthoracic, transesophageal, stress (exercise and pharmacologic) echocardiography, 3D echocardiography, and strain analysis.
• Expert 3D echocardiography is the preferred imaging modality for measuring heart pumping function and evaluating patients being considered for minimally invasive structural heart procedures.
• We currently support 80 clinical trials, including 40 clinical trials involving novel treatments of structural heart disease.
CARDIAC AND VASCULAR CT
• Next-generation CT scanners image with lower radiation doses and can capture the entire heart in a single heartbeat. Advanced computer processing helps reduce artifact and improve image quality.
• Advanced image processing specialists in our 3D imaging lab are dedicated to sophisticated postprocessing of CT and MRI datasets to gain accurate dimensions and create 3D printed models of vascular anatomy. These models can inform planning of aortic and structural heart interventions and aid in patient education.
• We offer advanced imaging techniques such as dual energy CT for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.
• Frankel CVC researchers are pioneering new techniques that use machine learning and high-resolution CT scanning to calculate 3D changes in the aortic wall — with each heartbeat and over time — that may help clinicians better estimate risk of complications in aortic aneurysms when they are more easily treatable.
• Our recently installed cutting-edge photon-counting CT scanner permits ultra high-resolution imaging of the heart and coronary arteries and minimizes image blurring due to calcium in the arteries.
• Advanced 4D CT imaging is opening new doors for researchers to create “digital twins” to plan heart valve procedures (TAVR and surgical aortic and mitral valve repair/replacement).
DIAGNOSTIC VASCULAR ULTRASOUND (DVU)
• Our DVU certified sonographers perform a full spectrum of approximately 30,000 arterial, venous, cerebrovascular, and abdominal studies annually
• The Frankel CVC has earned continuous accreditation by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission since 1993.
• We have expertise in advanced diagnostic imaging not offered at many other centers, including air plethysmography, transcranial doppler monitoring, transcutaneous oxygen measurement, specialized pelvic venous studies, specialized temporal artery duplex for diagnosis of giant cell arteritis, arterial perforator mapping prior to fibular flap surgery, and pediatric studies.
