research.biomedical imaging

Duke BME Program in biomedical imaging

The Duke BME Biomedical Imaging program features considerable expertise in the construction and clinical evaluation of novel imaging methods. In 1998, Duke BME received a Whitaker Foundation Special Opportunity Award in Imaging, which has allowed the department to broaden its research and educational offerings in this area.

Imaging research at Duke focuses upon ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, x-ray, and nuclear medicine. The ultrasound research team, which includes four graduate faculty with primary appointments in BME (Drs. Smith, Trahey, von Ramm, and Nightingale), has a long history of developing clinically relevant, novel ultrasonic imaging methods. Research is divided into four groups: transducer design, design of advanced ultrasound systems and applications, real-time image processing and acoustic radiation-force based imaging. The team has extensive facilities for system and transducer construction, allowing basic imaging algorithm development, and real-time implementation of new algorithms. The team collaborates with the Medical Center's Departments of Medicine and Radiology to perform clinical trials.

Research in MRI focuses upon diffusion tensor imaging (Dr. Hsu) and in vivo MRI microscopy (Drs. Hsu, G. Allan Johnson). New optical imaging methods focus upon epithelium and synthetic coatings (Dr. Katz). Other biomedical optics applications address identification and ablation of atherosclerotic plaque. For the most part, these techniques focus upon large organ and animal level analysis.

There are extensive collaborations between BME and Medical Center faculty. In a collaboration with the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the relationship between coronary artery motion and geometry, and the predispositional to arterial disease, is being examined by applying unique image processing tools to biplane cineangiograms and intravascular ultrasound records obtained in the clinic (Dr. Friedman).The biomedical imaging faculty is strengthened by nine secondary appointments to PhD researchers with a primary appointment in the Department of Radiology. These faculty supervise BME graduate students. Their research focuses on CT scanners, mammography, PET, SPECT, and computer-aided diagnosis.

BME graduate faculty doing research in this area:

Morton Friedman
Cineangiography and Intravascular Ultrasound Image Processing

Edward Hsu
MRI and Microscopy

David Katz
Optical Imaging

Kathryn Nightingale
Ultrasound

Stephen Smith
Transducer Design

Gregg Trahey
Adaptive and Flow Imaging

Olaf von Ramm
Advanced Ultrasound Systems and Applications

Alan Baydush
Digital imaging (Primary appointment in Radiology)

James Dobbins
Digital imaging (Primary appointment in Radiology)

Carey Floyd
Digital imaging (Primary appointment in Radiology)

Ronald Jaszczak
Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (Primary appointment in Radiology)

Allan Johnson
(Director, Center for In Vivo Microscopy)

Joseph Lo
Computer-aided diagnosis in breast imaging (Primary appointment: Radiology)

James MacFall
MRI Characterization of Tissue Structure and Function (Primary appointment in Radiology)

Ehsan Samei
Digital Radiology (Primary appointment in Radiology)

Allen Song
Brain imaging and analysis (Primary appointment in Radiology)

Martin Tornai
Breast disease imaging (Primary appointment in Radiology)