My area of research is centered around investigation of lung structure and function and in particular, the development of novel in vivo imaging techniques for early diagnosis of diseases such as lung cancer and emphysema in pre-clinical models. Lung cancer is a major health problem and is now the leading cause of cancer death in the world. Athough 85% of cases are directly linked to tobacco smoking, non-smoking related lung cancer is alarmingly on the rise. New techniques for early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer are needed if we are to understand and treat this disease. To date, medical imaging has played a vital role in detecting and diagnosing this disease, with early detection now possible using High Resolution Computed Tomography systems, however new approaches must be made if we are to reduce the gap between detection and diagnosis.
A primary focus of my research has been the development of novel imaging approaches for capturing lung structure and function in their most physiologic state. Techniques include in vivo micro computed tomography (micro-CT / pre-clinical CT) imaging, catheter-based confocal microscopy (CBCM) imaging, and three-dimensional pathology imaging through a custom Large Image Microscope Array (LIMA). This sequence of imaging techniques was developed in order to allow longitudinal tracking of disease progression and response to therapies (micro-CT imaging), in vivo evaluation of histology (CBCM), and finally accurate spatial correlation of non-invasive three-dimensional imaging systems (micro-CT, micro-MRI, micro-PET) to 'ground truth' pathology (LIMA).
The following are some of the main projects I have been working on.
Current Projects:
Namati, E., Thiesse, J., de Ryk, J., Stessman, A., and McLennan, G., "Longitudinal Multi-Modality Imaging of Lung Cancer in Mice", in American Thoracic Society, Toronto, Canada, May 2008.
Namati, E., Thiesse, J., de Ryk, J., and McLennan, G., "In vivo Catheter Based Histopathology of Lung Cancer in Mice", in American Thoracic Society, Toronto, Canada, May 2008.
Namati, E., Thiesse, J., de Ryk, J., and McLennan, G., "Alveolar Dynamics During Respiration: Are the Pores of Kohn a Pathway to Recruitment?," Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol, May, 2008.
Namati, E., Thiesse, J., de Ryk, J., and McLennan, G., "Dynamic in vivo Alveolar Morphology Using a Novel Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope," presented at 9th Biennial Conference of the Australian Pattern Recognition Society on Digital Image Computing Techniques and Applications (DICTA 2007), Adelaide, Australia, 2007.
Namati, E., Chon, D., Thiesse, J., Hoffman, E. A., de Ryk, J., Ross, A., and McLennan, G., "In vivo micro-CT lung imaging via a computer-controlled intermittent iso-pressure breath hold (IIBH) technique," Phys Med Biol, vol. 51, pp. 6061-75, 2006.
Namati, E., De Ryk, J., Thiesse, J., Towfic, Z., Hoffman, E., and McLennan, G., "Large image microscope array for the compilation of multimodality whole organ image databases," Anat Rec (Hoboken), vol. 290, pp. 1377-87, 2007.
Namati, E. and Li, J., "A Novel Shape Descriptor Based on Empty Morphological Skeleton Subsets," presented at 2004 International Symposium on Intelligent Multimedica, Video and Speech Processing, Hong Kong, 2004.
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