Y-TRIC education and training
Y-TRIC offers education and training programs from postdoctoral fellows to undergraduate students. Follow the links below to learn more about these opportunities.
Postdoctoral training program
Intracardiac imaging and intervention training
Postdoctoral training program
NIH T32 Grant: Training in Multi-modality Molecular and Translational Cardiovascular Imaging
PI: Albert J. Sinusas, MD
Co-PI: James S. Duncan, PhD
As imaging technology and molecular medicine advances, more complex questions arise often requiring the convergence of perspectives from multiple disciplines. The future of cardiovascular imaging will most likely be practiced by integrated multidisciplinary teams with diverse expertise. The goal of this research training program is to provide multidisciplinary post-doctoral multi-modality training in molecular and translational cardiovascular imaging for highly qualified fellows holding either an MD and/or PhD, in preparation for academic careers as independent investigators in the highly clinically relevant field of cardiovascular imaging.
Four post-doctoral applicants will be enrolled in the program each year, with a balance between physicians and scientists. Post-doctoral fellowship training will be 2–3 years in duration.
There will be three primary research foci in the postdoctoral training:
- Cardiovascular molecular imaging
- Cardiovascular imaging technologies and analyses
- Translational cardiovascular imaging
- Image-guided therapy
The primary faculty for this program are from the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and from multiple departments within the Yale School of Medicine, including: Internal Medicine (Section of Cardiovascular Medicine), Diagnostic Radiology, Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Therapeutic Radiology.
Drs. Sinusas and Duncan will co-manage the program to assure a balance and integration of the training of applicants in the relevant clinical and engineering sciences. The sponsoring faculty were selected based on extramural support, research productivity, and commitment to multidisciplinary training. Trainee progress will be monitored by individual mentors, the trainee's advisory committee, and the program directors. [Back to top]
Intracardiac imaging and intervention training
The pre-clinical training program entitled "Training for Intracardiac Imaging and Intervention" is integrated into a more comprehensive training of physicians and associated support staff for multi-modality image-directed interventions. Currently, catheter-based cardiovascular interventions are routinely performed with fluoroscopic guidance, which results in relatively high radiation exposures to the patients and operators, and inadequate 3-dimensional (3D) visualization of the heart and vasculature resulting in potential procedural-related complications.
The comprehensive training program includes:
- Didactic lectures
- Hands-on training with state-of-the-art equipment and multi-modality image-directed interventional approaches in an appropriate large animal model in the Y-TRIC, and
- Subsequent exposure to the clinical translation of similar equipment and procedures in patients at Yale New Haven Hospital.
The procedures are directly supervised by individuals with established expertise with the equipment and techniques in both animals and humans. Participants have the opportunity to position and manipulate the imaging devices and interventional catheters in the animal lab with direct supervision of highly trained staff.
The goal is to promote utilization of these new image-directed procedures in patients, and to improve treatment efficacy and safety for trans-septal puncture (passing a sheath and catheter across the intra-atrial septum of the heart) and radiofrequency ablation of the left ventricle, right and left atria, and pulmonary veins for treatment of potentially life-threatening atrial and ventricular arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms).
The multi-modality procedure involves obtaining 3-D high-resolution CT images of the chest and heart that are used as a foundation for procedural guidance using X-ray fluoroscopy, and either real-time intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) and/or transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). These real-time ultrasound images are used to help guide the placement of sheaths and catheters within the heart, reducing the need for fluoroscopy, and improving safety. The interventional or ablation catheters are tracked in 3-D space using a methodology that employs low-energy magnetic fields. The catheters can cause some displacement and deformation of the tissues when manipulated within the heart, and are moving within the heart over the cardiac cycle and with respiration. Operators who generally perform these procedures only with X-ray fluoroscopic guidance will be taught how to apply the non-invasive imaging technologies to improve treatment efficacy and safety. [Back to top]