Indiana Institute for Biomedical Imaging Sciences

poster abstractThe Indiana Institute of Biomedical Imaging Sciences (IIBIS) In-vivo Imaging Core provides Cancer Center investigators with access to state-of-the-art in-vivo imaging resources. As an integral component of an institution-wide imaging center, the core was developed through funds provided by an NCI P20 ICMIC planning grant, the Indiana 21st Century Technology Development Fund, and the Indiana Genomics Initiative (INGEN: Funded in part by the Lilly Endowment). Matching funds to develop this program were provided by the Indiana University Radiology Associates and the Indiana University School of Medicine, and IU Health. In total, nearly $40M has been raised to develop this comprehensive imaging program. The IIBIS Core will utilize resources located in three research buildings on the Indiana University School of Medicine campus. The Research Institute II building houses a Siemens HR+ PET Scanner, a Siemens Biograph 64 PET/CT Scanner, a GE 1.5T Signa MRI systems and a Siemens 3T Tim Trio MRI for human studies. Small animal imaging resources include the IndyPET III scanner, an EVS RS-9 micro CT scanner, a ART MX3 optical imaging system, and a Berthold NightOWL optical imaging system. Goodman Hall houses recently installed Siemens 3T SKYRA MRI and mCT (PET/CT) imaging systems. In addition, the Tracer and Contrast Agent Development program of the IIBIS Core is located in the Biomedical Research and Training Center building. This building houses a CTI RDS Eclipse medical cyclotron, radiochemistry laboratories, synthetic chemistry laboratories, and molecular biology and cell culture laboratories. The core has recently developed a Tracer and Contrast Validation laboratory which is housed at Research 2, and is aimed at accelerating the development of new imaging tracers. Highly skilled Faculty and Staff are available to assist with research study design, collection of imaging data, and data analysis, and model and tracer validation

A holistic multi-scale approach to using 3D scanning technology in accident reconstruction

Three-dimensional scanning and documentation methods are becoming increasingly employed by law enforcement personnel for crime scene and accident scene recording. Three-dimensional documentation of the victim’s body in such cases is also increasingly used as the field of forensic radiology and imaging is expanding rapidly. These scanning technologies enable a more complete and detailed documentation than standard autopsy. This was used to examine a fatal pedestrian-vehicle collision where the pedestrian was killed by a van whilst crossing the road. Two competing scenarios were considered for the vehicle speed calculation: the pedestrian being projected forward by the impact or the pedestrian being carried on the vehicle’s bonnet. In order to assist with this, the impact area of the accident vehicle was scanned using laser surface scanning, the victim was scanned using postmortem CT and micro-CT and the data sets were combined to virtually match features of the vehicle to injuries on the victim. Micro-CT revealed additional injuries not previously detected, lending support to the pedestrian-carry theory

CIDI-Lung-Seg: A Single-Click Annotation Tool for Automatic Delineation of Lungs from CT Scans

Accurate and fast extraction of lung volumes from computed tomography (CT) scans remains in a great demand in the clinical environment because the available methods fail to provide a generic solution due to wide anatomical variations of lungs and existence of pathologies. Manual annotation, current gold standard, is time consuming and often subject to human bias. On the other hand, current state-of-the-art fully automated lung segmentation methods fail to make their way into the clinical practice due to their inability to efficiently incorporate human input for handling misclassifications and praxis. This paper presents a lung annotation tool for CT images that is interactive, efficient, and robust. The proposed annotation tool produces an "as accurate as possible" initial annotation based on the fuzzy-connectedness image segmentation, followed by efficient manual fixation of the initial extraction if deemed necessary by the practitioner. To provide maximum flexibility to the users, our annotation tool is supported in three major operating systems (Windows, Linux, and the Mac OS X). The quantitative results comparing our free software with commercially available lung segmentation tools show higher degree of consistency and precision of our software with a considerable potential to enhance the performance of routine clinical tasks.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures; to appear in the proceedings of 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2014

Functional radical cervical dissection for differentiated thyroid cancer: the experience of a single center

There is ongoing debate regarding the role of neck dissection in differentiated thyroid cancer, about its usefulness in elective settings, and the increased costs regarding morbidity and operative time. This retrospective study aimed to determine the rate of metastases in cervical lymph nodes, to examine the morbidity of this surgery, and to assess whether a pattern of distribution of tumor cells concerning neck lymphatic compartments exists. The most frequent type of cancer to metastasize was papillary cancer, the majority of patients were young with a median of 30 years, predominantly females. Differentiated thyroid cancer frequently metastasizes to the central and lateral compartments of the neck. The morbidity is minimal in a high-volume center. Radical neck dissection is safe and feasible in selected patients with confirmed invaded or enlarged lymph nodes due to differentiated thyroid cancer, and postoperative complications are minimal if the anatomy is correctly identified and the cases strictly selected

Market Conditions and General Practitioners’ Referrals

We study how market conditions influence referrals of patients by general practitioners (GPs). We set up a model of GP referral for the Norwegian health care system, where a GP receives capitation payment based on the number of patients in his practice, as well as fee-for-service reimbursements. A GP may accept new patients or close the practice to new patients. We model GPs as partially altruistic, and compete for patients. We show that a GP operating in a more competitive market refers more. To retain patients in his practice, a GP satisfies patients’ requests for referrals. Furthermore, a GP who faces patient shortage will refer more often than a GP who has enough patients. More referrals may add to profits from future treatments. Using data of radiology referrals by GPs in Norway, we test and confirm our theory.Physician; service motive; profit motive; referral; radiology

Usual Tumor at an Unusual Site - A Leiomyoma Masquerading as a Urethral Polyp.

Polyps and papillomas encompass the most common benign tumors of the urethra.Leiomyoma of urethra is a rare clinical entity which can be diagnosed only with histopathological examination and only around 35 such cases have been reported worldwide

Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage due to coarctation of aorta and intraspinal collaterals : a rare presentation

The occurrence of spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in association with coarctation of thoracic aorta and absence of intracranial aneurysm is a rare association. In spontaneous SAH, the predominant cause is intracranial aneurysmal rupture. This report describes a case of a 40 year-old male who presented with SAH and was incidentally diagnosed to have coarctation of aorta (CoA) with intraspinal collaterals on further work up. This case demonstrates the importance of detailed evaluation of patients with spontaneous SAH on whom common aetiologies have been ruled out.peer-reviewe

CT and MRI imaging and interpretation of hepatic arterioportal shunts

Hepatic arterioportal shunts (HAPS) occur due to organic or functional fistulization of blood flow between arterial hepatic vasculature and venous portal systems. It is a type of hemodynamic abnormality of the liver being observed increasingly with the use of temporal imaging modalities. HAPS occur due to other underlying hepatic abnormalities including the presence of an underlying tumor or malignancy. When a HAPS is present, the appearance of these abnormalities on imaging studies suggests an underlying abnormality, must be considered atypical even if asymptomatic, and warrants careful evaluation. Over time, and as a function of degree of fistulae, symptoms and potential life-threatening complications may arise from the HAPS. These systemic complications may include the development of portal hypertension, splenomegaly, as well as accelerated metastasis in patients with malignant tumors. This manuscript reviews common underlying conditions associated with HAPS and their radiologic interpretation