Rice, Texas Heart Instituite get NIH grant

Nov 11, 2009

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $1 million grant to Rice University in Houston and the Texas Heart Institute (THI) to research cell-tracking nanotube technology that could make MRI up to 40 times more sensitive and help guide adult stem cells to repair damaged hearts.

Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston would use a magnetic navigation system from image-guided interventional surgery firm Stereotaxis of St. Louis to treat certain heart rhythm problems and to deliver stem cells to human hearts, pending regulatory approvals.

The grant will help develop technology based on MRI contrast agents created at Rice in which gadolinium is encased inside hollow tubes of pure carbon, called nanotubes, to eliminate the metal's toxicity. The so-called gadonanotubes are at least 40 times more effective at enhancing MRI signals than traditional gadolinium contrast agents.

With the new grant, researchers at Rice and the THI will label stem cells with gadonanotubes and attempt to use the cells to regenerate damaged heart tissue. MRI would track the cells and assess their efficacy.

Stereotaxis secures further credit, October 7, 2009

Stereotaxis posts Q2 results, taps new CFO, August 7, 2009

Stereotaxis reports healthy Q1, May 7, 2009

Stereotaxis inks alternative financing deal, March 12, 2009