PASADENA, Calif., June 11 (UPI) -- NASA scientists credit space technology for helping physicians diagnose and treat hardening of the arteries before it causes heart attacks or strokes.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers said hospitals and physicians across the United States are using software called ArterioVision in ultrasound examinations of the carotid artery, providing advanced diagnostic information.
A standard carotid ultrasound measures plaque and blood flow within the artery. But when used with NASA's software, it can measure the thickness of the inner two layers of the carotid artery, thereby providing the earliest evidence of atherosclerosis.
Robert Selzer, Medical Technologies International chief engineer, worked in JPL's Image Processing Laboratory for 15 years and helped develop the technology.
"It can distinguish between 256 shades of gray at a subpixel level," Selzer said. "You need that kind of detail to help catch heart disease as early as you can, often before there are any outward symptoms."
The software came from technology used to process pictures from space missions, including the Voyagers and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, licensed the software to Medical Technologies International Inc. of Palm Desert, Calif.
