OSU Radiology

Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging team are finalists of the Columbus TopCat Award.

From Left: (Johannes Heverhagen, MD, PhD, Robert McKenney, PhD, Alex MacDonald (Philips Turnkey Manager), Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, P.I., Michael Reed (Manager – Special Projects Group, H&H Systems and Design, Inc.), John Patrick, PhD, MBA (Director of Business Development, Philips Medical Systems of Cleveland)

TopCat stands for “ Top Contributors to the Advancement of Technology.” Each year top Ohio companies in Life Sciences, I.T. , Manufacturing and Advanced Logistics are given an award by the Columbus Technology Council. The awards will be made January 12, 2006 at the Easton Hilton.

See the Rules and Categories or visit TopCat's web site at: http://www.ctctopcat.org/

Hee received a Research Trainee Prize at RSNA05 for the second year in a row. The lecture was entitled: "Enhancing Visual Analysis of Medical Images with Auditory Sensory
Information."

Dr. Judah Folkman, a hero of modern medicine, visits OSU to receive an honorary doctorate degree

From Left: Dr. Rolf Barth, Dr. Judah Folkman, Dr. Nicanor Moldovan, Dr. Zhenguo Liu, Dr. Michael Knopp, and Dr. Carol Whitacre

On December 10th Judah Folkman visited the Ohio State University to receive an honorary doctorate degree. Dr. Folkman is known internationally for his theory of angiogenesis, his discovery of the angiogenesis inhibitors angiostatin and endostatin, pioneering the first implantable polymers for slow, sustained release of drugs, and developing the first implantable atrio-ventricular pacemaker.

He is a 1953 graduate of Biological Sciences at OSU and holds a medical degree from Harvard University (1957). He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy at the National Naval Medical College in Bethesda, Maryland (1960-1962). He did a residency in the Department of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He became professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School in 1967. He also was appointed surgeon-in-chief and chair of the Department of Surgery at Children’s Hospital, Boston in 1967.

In 1971, he published an article in The New England Journal of Medicine advancing the hypothesis that all tumor growth is dependent on angiogenesis. His theory was not widely accepted by his peers at first. He continued his research into this area and in the 1980s he identified the proteins responsible for angiogenesis. In the 1990s, he discovered the natural inhibitors of angiogenesis – angiostatin and endostatin. This has led to the development of new drugs that are even more potent inhibitors of angiogenesis, giving hope to cancer patients.

From Left: Dr. Cheng Zhou, Dr. Michael Knopp, Dr. William Yuh (foreground), and Dr. Min Chen

On December 2nd Cheng Zhou, MD and Min Chen, MD, PhD from the Department of Radiology at Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health of China, visited the Department of Radiology at OSU to view the Philips Achieva 7 Tesla MRI System at the Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging. Cheng Zhou serves as Professor and Chairman of Radiology at Beijing Hospital and as a member of the committee of the Chinese Academy of Radiology. He is one of three leaders of the Chinese Academy of Radiology delegation to RSNA. He has been a visiting scholar at UCSD, Mount Sinai Hospital in NY, and Glasgow Hospital in Austria. Min Chen, MD, PhD, is Professor and Vice Chairman. He has been a visiting scholar at UCSF and Stanford University Medical Center.

The prestigious Beijing Hospital was founded in 1905 by a German priest. It was originally called German Hospital. In 1945, it became Beijing Hospital. Beijing Hospital was the first in China to install a CT scanner in 1979 and a MRI scanner in 1982. They now have an 8-slice GE CT scanner, a 1.5 T MRI, and a Siemens Biograph 16 PET/CT scanner. Soon, they will have a Philips Achieva 3 Tesla MRI System like that found at the Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging at OSU Medical Center.

Both Dr. Zhou and Dr. Chen are members of RSNA. The Department of Radiology at Beijing Hospital has had the greatest number of presentations accepted by RSNA for the past two years. In 2003, they collaborated with the Chinese Academy of Science and contributed a paper to Science, i.e. "Contributions of the visual ventral pathway to long-range apparent motion.17, 299(5605) 417-20.

Congratulations to Johannes Heverhagen MD, PhD, for winning two Editor's Recognition Awards for reviewing scientific manuscripts with distinction in Radiology.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center and Radiology Imaging receive major Grant from the National Cancer Institute

The Comprehensive Cancer Center and Department of Radiology were selected among 8 centers nationwide to receive a $738,813 grant to continue developing novel, noninvasive imaging assessment methodologies that look at early biologic response to cancer treatment.

Recent study shows that digital mammography is more effective at detecting breast cancer than film in women under 50, pre- and perimenopausal, or who had dense breast tissue.

The study by Etta D. Pisano, MD, et. al., is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, September 16, 2005. It includes data from 33 sites and 42,760 women participants located in the U.S.A. and Canada. Two-thirds of the participants fell within the category of being under the age of 50, having dense breast tissue, and being pre or perimenopausal. For the remaining third, either film or digital mammograms were equally effective at detecting breast cancer.

Digital mammography allowed for the adjustment of contrast in dense breast tissue, which appears as white areas on film and digital scans. This proved to be an advantage in separating the dense tissue from cancerous cells in digital mammograms. Digital mammograms are much easier to transmit, retrieve, and store than film. They also may allow for a lower dose of radiation without compromising diagnostic accuracy.

Currently, the availability of digital mammograms is low. Digital mammography scanners have been around since 2001. Approximately 8% of the mammography equipment in the United States is digital. Digital mammography is more expensive than film mammography. Stoneridge Medical Center's radiology section, within The Ohio State University Medical Center, currently has one digital scanner, a Senographe 2000D by GE (pictured at left), in addition to three film scanners. The Senographe 2000D was purchased new in 2001 and does approximately 40% of the mammograms at Stoneridge.

The Department of Radiology is proud to announce Dr. Eric Bourekas' joint appointment as Associate Professor of Neurology. This appointment is in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Stroke Program and for his excellent teaching of the Department of Neurology's residents and students.

Wednesday, August 31, the Department of Radiology held its open house for the Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging. There was a V.I.P. reception with Governor Taft's Science and Technology Advisor, Frank Samuel, President Karen Holbrook, Dean Sanfilippo, and Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Radiology. Michael Knopp, MD, PhD started the addresses with a welcome and gave the history behind the development of the center. Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD praised Dr. Knopp for his vision and leadership. He reflected on the vision and leadership of OSU Medical Center and the State of Ohio. Karen Holbrook, PhD praised the initiative for its partnerships. Frank Samuel thanked all the members involved in bringing the facility to fruition. He praised the initiative for its alignment with Ohio Third Frontier goals of benefiting health care and bringing business to Ohio. Companies that worked on The Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging were H&H Construction, Kinetic Noise Control, Ohio Steel Sheet & Plate, and Philips.

Pictured above from left to right: Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health, Frank Samuel, Science and Technology Advisor to Governor Taft, Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Radiology, Karen Holbrook, President of The Ohio State University.

Listen to the speeches given at the Wright Center of Biomedical Imaging Open House, held August 31st, 2005:

University Hospital East launches opening of their new Emergency Department with a new Siemens SOMATOM Sensation Open CT Scanner.

On June 23, 2005, University Hospital East held an opening ceremony for their new emergency department. The new emergency department, at 15,000 square feet, is more than double the size of the old one. It includes another 10,000 square feet of supporting technology and staff. This includes a new Siemens SOMATOM Sensation Open CT Scanner. The building of the new emergency department was a response to a 60% increase in patient visits over the past four years. University Hospital East expects 35,000 emergency visits in 2005 and 42,500 visits in 2006.

The Siemens SOMATOM Sensation Open CT Scanner excels in speed and its ability to take high quality images of very large patients. It is the first 40 slice large bore CT system with a 0.5 second gantry rotation speed and Z-Sharp Technology. The Z-Sharp technology splits an electron beam to produce two overlapping X-Ray projections. This doubles the information obtained without doubling the dose of radiation. Z-Sharp Technology provides the industry’s highest level of isotropic resolution at .37 millimeters.

The scanner has an 82 centimeter large gantry bore and an 82 centimeter extended field of view. The patient table will hold up to 615 pounds. Conventional CT tables hold 440 pounds. The software provides additional important features. This includes the ability to automatically reduce radiation dose to both the physician and patient during CT-guided interventional procedures and the ability to project the travel path of a needle or probe in real time.

The scanner will be used in cancer patients for radiation therapy planning, for image-guided interventional radiology procedures, and for routine diagnostic imaging.

Division of Imaging Research, Department of Radiology, received the CALGB (Cancer and Leukemia Group B) award to serve as the PET Core Lab. The PET Core Lab will be a service provider to assist in all aspects of image data management of PET and PET/CT data for the CALGB group. The Division won the competition out of 14 submissions to be the core lab. In addition, it is projected that this will have a positive impact on future funding opportunities along with these services generating new opportunities not only for science and research but also jobs for graduate students, technical staff and scientists. Dr. Michael V. Knopp is the PI.

Philips Medical Systems Ultra High Field MR Users Meeting

On June 20, 2005 Philips Medical Systems, collaborator in the Third Frontier Project called the "Biomedical Structural, Functional and Molecular Imaging Enterprise" with The Ohio State University Department of Radiology, had an opening ceremony for their research facility in Highland Heights, OH. The research facility houses a Philips Achieva 7 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging System. This system is similar to the one being installed at the Wright Center of Innovation in Biomedical Imaging on OSU campus. The 7T Achieva MR System is the most complicated and expensive system Philips has made to date. It weighs about the same as 35 elephants, has a gravitational pull 140,000 time that of the earth, and costs $10 million. Some highlights of what makes it special include: advanced sequence capabilities from the Achieva Platform; functional Neuro studies with increased Signal to Noise Ratio; higher resolution images of angiogenesis; improved imaging of blood flow and oxygen use in the brain; greater understanding of degenerative neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Governor Bob Taft

Parkinson's, and Multiple Sclerosis; and it will allow for functional imaging research in cancer, neuroscience, and cardiovascular care that could reduce the need for exploratory surgery.

In accordance with the goal of the Ohio Third Frontier Program to create advanced jobs for Ohio, the research facility will employ 40 people and bring in $40 million to $50 million per year. Gerard Ranasinghe, Philip's VP and General Manager of magnetic resonance imaging, said there is a market for about 100 of the scanners world wide. Philips has commitments to install 7T Achieva systems at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and at Vanderbilt University in the USA.

We would like to congratulate John Olsen, MD, director of our Nuclear Medicine Division for being re-elected for another three year term as a board member for OSU Physicians, Inc. Dr. Olsen will represent the hospital-based cluster.

Dr. Olsen also has been appointed by Governor Bob Taft to replace S. Christopher Lee MD on the Radiation Advisory Council for a term ending September 8, 2009. Read the announcement on the Governor's site.

The Department of Radiology at The Ohio State University Medical Center recently acquired a Siemens Biograph 16 PET/CT scanner. The scanner takes PET images followed by CT images of the same area in approximately one 20 minute session. The PET images show metabolism of radioactive glucose by cancer cells while the CT images help doctors localize the cancer cells. PET/CT helps doctors diagnose cancer and quickly see the results of cancer treatment. If a particular treatment is not working, doctors can quickly choose another for the patient.

Dr. Rosado De Christenson Receiving Award

Pictured from left to right: Jennifer Christenson, Jon Christenson, Melissa Rosado de Christenson, MD, Paul J. Christenson, MD, Heather Christenson

On 29 November 2004 the American Association for Women Radiologists presented its highest award, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award to Melissa L. Rosado de Christenson, MD, FACR. Dr. Rosado de Christenson is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Radiology at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

The American Association for Women Radiologists (AAWR) presents the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award each year to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of radiology. Ritsuko Komaki, MD a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas nominated Dr. Rosado de Christenson for this prestigious award, as recognition for her contributions to radiology resident education, her service in organized medicine and her service to the AAWR. Dr. Rosado de Christenson is Past-President of the AAWR and led the organization during its inaugural strategic planning effort.

The award was presented to Dr. Rosado de Christenson during the annual AAWR Business Meeting, which took place on 29 November 2004 at the 90 th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Illinois. Michael Knopp, MD, PhD and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiology, Novartis Chair of Imaging Research at The Ohio State University was a guest of honor at the award ceremony. Dr. Rosado de Christenson’s family, husband Paul J. Christenson, MD, and children Jon E. Christenson, Jennifer R. Christenson, and Heather K. Christenson were also guests of honor at the ceremony.

Dr. Rosado de Christenson recognized three of the many individuals who provided mentorship and guidance to her throughout her career: William W. Olmsted, MD, FACR, Richard P. Moser, Jr., MD, FACR and B. J. Manaster, MD, PhD, FACR. She reflected on the role of AAWR in the professional development of its members and the joys of mentoring the next generation of young radiologists. She thanked her family for their sacrifice and support.

Dr. Eric Bourekas and Dr. Rajul Shah of the Department of Radiology at OSU, along with collaborators at University Hospitals of Cleveland and CWRU, have conducted clinical trials using rt-PA at the site of a blood clot to treat stroke patients within 3 hours of onset. Read more about it on the College of Medicine's web site.

Third Frontier Award going towards screening for lung cancer initiative at The Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read about it in the article, "Ohio launches lung cancer screening initiative."

Solucient and Modern Healthcare Magazine ranked OSU's health system as one of the 100 best in the U.S.A. The rankings are based on clinical outcomes, operational efficiency, and overall financial performance.