Drs. Andrew Dunn and Douglas Fox Receive a Coulter Phase II Translational Research Award

8/22/2011 11:28:48 AM

Andrew Dunn, Ph.D. at University of Texas at Austin and Douglas Fox, M.D., Executive Medical Director of NeuroTexas Institute at St. David’s HealthCare were recently awarded a Phase II Translational Research Award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. The $260,000 award will provide two years of funding that will support the continued clinical investigation of intraoperative optical imaging of brain function.

Drs. Dunn and Fox have been collaborating on a noninvasive imaging technique that will image blood flow in real time during neurosurgery. Based on laser speckle contrast imaging, this technique may lead to neurosurgeons having the ability to visualize blood flow in real time without interrupting the surgical procedure. Having the ability to better identify blood vessel perfusion during surgery will significantly impact the way neurosurgeons make decisions intraoperatively during brain tumor resections or aneurysm repairs. NeuroTexas Institute Research will be coordinating this next phase of clinical testing.