Anthony B Wolbarst | PubMed Health

PubMed2007

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and NIH grant process: an overview.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) comprise the largest single source of funding in the world for the support of biomedical research. Much of the work of the NIH focuses on the elucidation of fundamental biophysical, biochemical, and biologic aspects of the molecular, cellular, and tissue processes underlying both healthy and diseased states of biologic systems and on the development of cures for the latter. In 2000, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) was created with a somewhat different focus: Rather than concentration on a specific organ system or category of disease, the primary objective of the NIBIB is the advancement of technologies and tools that contribute to all aspects of biomedical research and health care delivery, especially in the imaging sciences and bioengineering. This article provides an overview of the ways in which NIH funds research, with an emphasis on NIBIB support of biomedical imaging. It is intended for radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and other readers of this journal, especially those with limited experience in the complex process of obtaining NIH grant support.

Academies and Institutes↗

PubMed2006

Evolving and experimental technologies in medical imaging.

Medical images are created by detecting radiation probes transmitted through or emitted or scattered by the body. The radiation, modulated through interactions with tissues, yields patterns that provide anatomic and/or physiologic information. X-rays, gamma rays, radiofrequency signals, and ultrasound waves are the standard probes, but others like visible and infrared light, microwaves, terahertz rays, and intrinsic and applied electric and magnetic fields are being explored. Some of the younger technologies, such as molecular imaging, may enhance existing imaging modalities; however, they also, in combination with nanotechnology, biotechnology, bioinformatics, and new forms of computational hardware and software, may well lead to novel approaches to clinical imaging. This review provides a brief overview of the current state of image-based diagnostic medicine and offers comments on the directions in which some of its subfields may be heading.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

ISCORS Catalog of References to Parameter Values and Distributions Used in Environmental Pathway Modeling for Cleanup of Sites Contaminated with Radioactivity.

Federal and state regulatory agencies that are concerned with issues of environmental management have adopted approaches toward policy-making that are dose- and risk-informed. To that end they (and others) have developed environmental models and computer codes to mimic the transport of contaminants along air, water, food-chain, and related pathways for estimating potential exposures, doses, and risks to individuals, populations, and ecosystems. Their calculations commonly find application in the planning of remediation, and thereafter in the demonstration of compliance with federal and state cleanup standards. As the models and codes have become more sophisticated, so also have requirements on the accuracy and level of detail of the numerical point values and probability distributions of environmental transfer factors and other parameters that serve as input parameters to them. In response to this growing need, the federal Interagency Steering Committee On Radiation Standards (ISCORS) and the Argonne National Laboratory have developed an on-line, national repository of information on parameter values and distributions of known provenance and demonstrated utility. The ISCORS Catalog of References to Parameter Values and Distributions Used in Environmental Pathway Modeling for Cleanup of Sites Contaminated with Radioactivity is a web-based, indexed compilation of references, compendia, databases, and other sources of peer-reviewed information on parameters. It does not itself contain numerical point values or distributions for any particular parameter, but rather it provides links or directions to sites or other published materials where such information can be obtained. Designed to be user-friendly, easily searchable, and readily up-dateable, the Catalog is being filled, after some initial priming, mainly through on-line submissions of proposed references by the Catalog users themselves. The relevant information on a proposed reference is submitted to ISCORS in a simple, standardized format; it is vetted (with acceptance criteria such as publication in a peer-reviewed technical journal, or appearance in a formally-issued federal agency report) and then added semi-automatically to the Catalog. Built around a relational database, the system offers subject- and text-search capabilities, provides information on parameter definitions and methods of measurement, on transport/exposure pathways, and on standard models and codes. The Catalog is intended for use by (and being populated by) the professionals, managers, and others involved or interested in the application of pathway modeling to estimate doses and risks associated with sites contaminated with radioactive or other hazardous materials.

Databases as Topic↗