Astellas foundation awards $150K for liver transplantation study

The Astellas European Foundation announced it has awarded a grant worth $150,000 to a team of researchers in Milan, Italy, and Paris, France, to investigate whether functional ultrasound imaging is effective during and after liver transplantation procedures.

The research project, titled “Functional Ultrasound imaging as an innovative tool to assess hepatic microcirculation performances during and after liver transplantation procedures,” will be led by Frederico Esposti, PhD, Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy. Espositi and colleagues believe that functional ultrasound will provide a significant contribution in predicting and preventing microcirculatory dysfunctions during and after liver transplantation, according to the release.

“To date, a large gap divides what we know about the role of hepatic microcirculation in health and disease and surgical practice,” Esposti said in the release. “Our idea is to bring an efficient tool for surveying hepatic micro-hemodynamics to the hand of transplant surgeons. We are very grateful to Astellas European Foundation for supporting our research and believing in our project.”

The ultrasound has previously been used for brain imaging, according to the release.

Disclosures: Helaio.com/Hepatology was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures of Esposti.