Imaging Core

Image CoreThe Applied Chest Imaging Laboratory (ACIL) is a research lab and core service provider at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Our group has developed and implemented state-of-the art imaging analysis techniques to objectively assess clinically relevant features of the intraparenchymal pulmonary vasculature and surrounding lung parenchyma. This suite of tools facilitate: 

  1. Enhanced sub-voxel assessment of pulmonary vascular morphology to provide the most accurate metrics of vessel size.
  2. High fidelity differentiation of the arterial and venous vascular beds to uniquely assess pre vs. post-capillary responses of the vasculature to therapeutic intervention (changes in vessel volume and tortuosity).
  3. Longitudinal co-registration of imaging at serial time points to enable vessel-specific assessments of target engagement.
  4. Inspiration to expiration co-registration for functional assesstment of ventalation defects and gas trapping.
  5. Advanced characterization of injury patterns in the lung parenchyma (emphysema, interstitial change, inflammation, etc.) and adjacent airways (wall thickening, bronchiectatic dilation) that may influence vessel-specific responses to therapy.

These metrics have been featured in more than 200 peer-reviewed publications including the New England Journal of Medicine and we have served as imaging core in multiple local, national, and international Federal (NIH/DoD) and industry-sponsored clinical (observational and interventional), epidemiologic and genetic investigations. 

For more information about our corse services please contact us