Celebrating Ruiz

Thirty-seven years of department leadership was celebrated July 15 as President Jim Willerson hosted and emceed an evening in honor of Dr. Richard Ruiz, who will end his term as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Aug. 31. Surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues, Ruiz was recognized for his service to medicine, his patients, and research. Ruiz will remain on faculty and is not retiring.

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Grants support breast cancer diagnosis, management research

Creating new imaging techniques to aid in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer and lymphedema are the goals of two new grants awarded to Dr. Jonathan Ophir, professor of diagnostic and interventional imaging and director of the Ultrasonics and Elastrographics Laboratory at the Medical School.

A two-year grant from the National Cancer Institute for $326,700 will support research to stage and monitor the treatment of lymphedema, the buildup of lymphatic fluid in interstitial tissues.

“Lymphedema is common following treatment of several types of cancer, such as breast cancer and Hodgkin’s disease, due to the removal of lymph nodes,” Ophir said. “Limb problems can develop as can fibrosis, the thickening of tissues in the affected area.”

Using poroelastography, Ophir and his colleagues apply slight pressure to the affected tissue and measure the ratio of lateral and axial strain – Poisson’s ratio, which changes as the fluid leaves the tissue. (see video, produced in cooperation with R. Zahiri-Azar from the University of British Columbia)

2 min poro experiment

“Our hypothesis is that lymphedema tissue is more akin to a sponge, and by measuring and imaging the distribution and time course of changes in this ratio, we can see where and how severely affected the tissues are – which will help determine treatment, and we can also measure the effectiveness of treatment,” he said. “Lymphedema tissue doesn’t behave like normal tissue, which is more like elastic Jell-O.”

The study on lymphedema patients will be done under a subcontract to the University of Vermont, under the direction of Dr. Brian Garra.

The second two-year grant was awarded two weeks ago from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and announced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas. Ophir was the only Medical School recipient of this new federal funding -- $1.7 million for Texas -- which is directed at cancer research.

Ophir’s project, “Imaging Shear Strains in Breast Tissues,” will bring $371,200 to study the difference between malignant and benign breast tumors using elastography to measure the shear strain at the boundaries between these tumors and the normal host tissues – or the sliding of the tumor tissue when slight external pressure is applied. This will be done on a database of images previously acquired by Garra.

“Malignant tumors appear to have tentacles surrounding them that aggressively hold on to the host tissue, tugging it when they move,” Ophir said. “The benign tumors, on the other hand, have smoother margins and move more freely within the host tissue, exhibiting very localized and distinct shearing patterns at the border of the tumor.” (see video produced in collaboration with R. Zahiri Azar (University of British Columbia).

AxialShearBoundedSineHist

AxialShearUnBoundedSine

Ophir pioneered elastography, the imaging of the elastic properties of soft tissues, and has been perfecting its use in clinical applications – primarily in breast and prostate cancers – over the last 17 years. Ophir and his research team discovered it was possible to noninvasively measure and image the local elastic changes inside soft objects, such as sponges and tissue. This technology has been patented by UTHSC and has since been licensed to several commercial manufacturers of medical ultrasound equipment.

Using the existing technology of diagnostic ultrasound, elastography involves a before and after picture – after a 1 percent compression – of the tissue in question. From these two images, a new image, an elastogram, is generated, which displays the hardness or softness of all tissue elements in the field of view. Since it is known that tissue hardness is related to the presence of pathology, the technique is able to image pathological changes, such as tumors, that may not be visible by other imaging methods.

“Most cancerous tissues are much harder than normal tissues, and malignant breast tumors are at least 5-10 times stiffer than other breast tissues. If you have a lump in your breast, it will be biopsied – yet only 1 in 10 will end up being cancer. These numbers mean that there are many unnecessary biopsies,” Ophir explained.

The research funded by these two grants aims to provide more weapons in the fight against breast cancer and its resulting problems.

Images from Ophir’s lab of shear strains will be the cover of the August 2008 issue of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control.

-D. Brown

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UT-Houston says farewell to DeBakey, Huffington

Two significant members of the Houston medical scene died Friday, July 11.

Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, 99, noted heart surgeon who had been on the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital for decades, was a mentor of Dr. James T. Willerson, president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and president-elect of Texas Heart Institute.

"We have lost a great leader, builder, medical statesman, and pioneer in cardiovascular surgery,” said Dr. Willerson. “Dr. DeBakey’s contributions to the building and growth of the Texas Medical Center, the Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital have been monumental.

“His work and his inspirational leadership to medicine generally, and the very large numbers of students and surgeons that he helped train, are his great legacy to the world. His work in medicine and his inspirational leadership will never be forgotten."

Roy M. Huffington, 90, noted Texas oilman who was appointed ambassador to Austria during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, had been a life member of the Development Board of the UT Health Science Center at Houston since 1981, as well as a founding member of the institution’s Lone Star Legacy Society.

He made significant gifts to the institution for endowed chairs, professorships, and lecture series as well as gifts to geriatric/gerontological research and care, molecular medicine research, stroke and heart research, asthma, and hyperthermia research

"He was a wonderful man and one who was so very generous to all the institutions of the TMC, including UTHSC-H, and to many other organizations in the U.S. and abroad,” Dr. Willerson said.

“He was an extraordinary man — absolutely unselfish and always interested in the welfare of others. He was my friend and my patient and I, along with others in Houston and throughout the world, will miss him very much."

UT School of Nursing Dean Patricia Starck, D.S.N., said, “Mr. Huffington was a longtime and loyal friend of nursing who supported education and research at the School of Nursing. He was a very fine gentleman and we are saddened to hear of his death. We extend our sincerest condolences to his children. He will be fondly remembered by the faculty, staff and students at the School of Nursing.”

Tentatively, services for Huffington are scheduled for Monday, July 21, at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Dr.

-P. Lewis

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