Imaging technology

About: Imaging technology is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1450 publications have been published within this topic receiving 26186 citations.

Adoption of high technology medical imaging and hospital quality and efficiency: Towards a conceptual framework.

Abstract: Measuring the value of medical imaging is challenging, in part, due to the lack of conceptual frameworks underlying potential mechanisms where value may be assessed. To address this gap, this article proposes a framework that builds on the large body of literature on quality of hospital care and the classic structure-process-outcome paradigm. The framework was also informed by the literature on adoption of technological innovations and introduces 2 distinct though related aspects of imaging technology not previously addressed specifically in the literature on quality of hospital care: adoption (a structural hospital characteristic) and use (an attribute of the process of care). The framework hypothesizes a 2-part causality where adoption is proposed to be a central, linking factor between hospital structural characteristics, market factors, and hospital outcomes (ie, quality and efficiency). The first part indicates that hospital structural characteristics and market factors influence or facilitate the adoption of high technology medical imaging within an institution. The presence of this technology, in turn, is hypothesized to improve the ability of the hospital to deliver high quality and efficient care. The second part describes this ability throughout 3 main mechanisms pointing to the importance of imaging use on patients, to the presence of staff and qualified care providers, and to some elements of organizational capacity capturing an enhanced clinical environment. The framework has the potential to assist empirical investigations of the value of adoption and use of medical imaging, and to advance understanding of the mechanisms that produce quality and efficiency in hospitals.

Bioimaging of Laboratory Animals: The Visual Translation of Molecular Insights

Abstract: ADepartment of Energy report released in 1987 stated in a visionary prediction that “Knowledge of the human genome is as necessary to the continuing progress of medicine and other health sciences as knowledge of human anatomy has been for the present state of medicine” (Barnhart 1989). The pursuit of this knowledge has marked an era of rapid genomics-based discovery that continues to yield unique insights into connections between disease and molecular factors. One key method for transforming these initial insights into direct evidence of disease pathogenesis is molecular imaging. Imaging techniques that have been customized for laboratory animals provide scientists with the unprecedented ability to link detailed molecular understanding with the complexity of whole organism physiological responses and anatomical detail. The advancement of knowledge derived from the mammalian genome is likely to depend on the context provided by the unique blending of our knowledge of anatomy with the translational application of imaging technology. The primary objective of this ILAR Journal issue focused on laboratory animal imaging is to provide readers with a compendium of reviews that describe the methods, the limitations, and a few examples of the most common applications of small animal imaging to human disease. Because most disease processes are dynamic, there are inherent limitations to using static tissue-based techniques to study dynamic processes. Among these is that a large number of animals is needed for every experiment to enable the processing of tissue at given time points of interest, and histopathological examination of these tissues using standard microscopy is a daunting task. In addition, there is a degree of variability introduced when the control level of a factor is determined by comparing different animals instead of using each animal as its own control. Experimental designs of longitudinal studies pose particular limitations because a certain degree of understanding about the kinetics of a disease process is critical to the appropriate timing of tissue collections. The imaging modalities available for use with laboratory animals provide a means to explore the molecular mechanism of several diseases, minimize many of the limitations of static tissue-based techniques, and, most importantly, decrease the numbers of animals required. In fact, depending on the application, it is possible to reduce the number of animals required per study by as much as 80% to 90%. This feature is noteworthy because, perhaps unique to the ILAR Journal, there is an intentional effort to publish reviews that include considerations specifically relevant to animal care and use. The first article, by Brenda Klaunberg and Judith Davis, presents an overview of key considerations for laboratory animal imaging center design. This review not only is relevant to readers considering new facility design but also can provide a series of quick checks for existing centers as well as strategies for improvement. Contributing authors Isabel Hildebrandt, Helen Su, and Wolfgang Weber then discuss anesthesia for in vivo imaging of small animals in the context of how animal preparation differs among imaging modalities, and how the imaging procedures themselves can affect animal physiology. A general overview of practical considerations in rodent cardiac imaging is provided by Kennita Johnson as a segue to detailed reviews of specific imaging techniques. This article is a good source of baseline information about the particular challenges of cardiac imaging. The contributions of imaging technology to the biomedical sciences are incontrovertible. In fact, one has only to list the number of Nobel prizes awarded to scientists in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to appreciate the importance and recognition this field has received. These include the 2003 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine awarded to Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield for the development of MRI. Earlier NMRrelated Nobel Prizes were awarded for Chemistry (Kurt Wuthrich in 2002, Richard R. Ernst in 1991) and Physics (Felix Bloch and Edward M. Purcell in 1952 and Isidor I. Rabi in 1944; http://nobelprize.org). The first manuscript describing the MRI of a rat was published almost 25 years ago, and the technique continues to evolve and expand the scientific advances made possible Myrtle A. Davis, DVM, PhD, is a Research Advisor in Toxicology, Drug Disposition, and Pharmacokinetics at Lilly Research Laboratories in Greenfield, Indiana. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Myrtle Davis, Toxicology, Drug Disposition, and Pharmacokinetics, Lilly Research Laboratories, 2001 W. Main Street, Greenfield, IN 46140 or email davisma@lilly.com.

A new scheme for grading the quality of scientific reports that evaluate imaging modalities for cerebrovascular diseases.

Abstract: Imaging of head and neck vasculature continues to improve with the application of new technology. To judge the value of new technologies reported in the literature, it is imperative to develop objective standards optimized against bias and favoring statistical power and clinical relevance. A review of the existing literature identified the following items as lending scientific value to a report on imaging technology: prospective design, comparison with an accepted modality, unbiased patient selection, standardized image acquisition, blinded interpretation, and measurement of reliability. These were incorporated into a new grading scheme. Two physicians tested the new scheme and an established scheme to grade reports published in the medical literature. Inter-observer reliability for both methods was calculated using the kappa coefficient. A total of 22 reports evalualiiig imaging modalities for cervical internal carotid artery stenosis were identified from a literature search and graded by both schemes. Agreement between the two physicians in grading the level of scientific evidence using the new scheme was excellent (kappa coefficient: 0.93, p<0.0001). Agreement using the established scheme was less rigorous (kappa coefficient: 0.39, p<0.0001). The weighted kappa coefficients were 0.95 and 0.38 for the new and established schemes, respectively. Overall agreement was higher for the newer scheme (95% versus (61%). The new grading scheme can be used reliably to categorize the strength of scientific knowledge provided by individual studies of vascular imaging. The new method could assist clinicians and researchers in determining appropriate clinical applications of newly reported technical advances.

Application of Nanooptics in Photographic Imagery and Medical Imaging

Abstract: Background. At present, with the continuous development of nanotechnology, great changes have taken place in people’s lives in medical treatment, production, daily leisure, and so on. Nanooptical technology is entirely based on nanotechnology that laser and visible light are limited to submicron structures (nanopores, nanoslits, and nanoneedles). Due to the great development potential of nanooptical technology in nanoscale sensors, TOF camera applications, THz imaging technology, and other imaging equipment materials and applications, people have been interested in it, recently. Scope and Approach. In this review, the importance of good practices for nanooptical technology used in equipment as both nanometer scale sensors and optical auxiliary equipment is described. Based on recent reports, this work discussed the development of nanooptical technology in daily photography and medical imaging from both the positive and the negative sides and compared the engineering techniques. Key Findings and Conclusions. As a kind of new optical technology, nanooptical technology can produce the plasmonic effect under the intense collision of atoms and electrons in nanostructures. It has significant effects in superresolution nanolithography, high-density data storage, near-field optics, and other fields. Although the current nanooptic technology is not extremely mature, the results obtained from current works are pointing out that nanooptical technology is the future of daily imaging and medical imaging, and it also will play a positive role in the improvement of people’s health and ecological environment quality. As a trend, nanooptical technology is developing in the direction of energy-saving, portability, high efficiency, and low pollution, and in the upsurge of environmental protection in the world, nanooptical technology will surely achieve amazing development in the field of daily photography and medical imaging. Under the huge market demand and innovation power, nanophotonics technology will cover all emerging technologies that share the same research field with it and take advantage of each technology (terahertz, cell and molecular microscopy, and nanoscale probes) to develop an unprecedented new century in nanoscience. The future trends of research contain finding new imaging equipment with nanostructure, designing nanooptical products, and improving engineering techniques.

The Wavelia Microwave Breast Imaging system–tumour discriminating features and their clinical usefulness

Abstract: Objective:The Wavelia Microwave Breast Imaging (MBI) system, based on non-ionising imaging technology, has demonstrated exciting potential in the detection and localisation of breast pathology in s...