NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE - CANCER.GOV

Contact Information


Primary Contact

Ronald Summers
Director

Location

10 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892

Additional Contacts

Elizabeth Jones
Director

Overview

The Clinical Image Processing Service (CIPS) offers timely and accurate advanced image processing of diagnostic radiology images for clinical care, research, and training. CIPS’ functions include clinical services and scientific researches.

Established Technologies

CIPS can process most modern imaging modalities such as MR, CT, PET and Ultrasound in anatomical regions from the hand to the heart. The CIPS lab currently offers services in seven exam categories:

IP Dynamic Enhancement
Dynamic Enhancement MRI (DEMRI) is a type of MRI study in which intravenous contrast is administered to a patient and the pattern of contrast uptake and washout within a lesion is observed. IP exam provides pharmacokinetic analysis for region of interest, lesion, and whole image.

IP Perfusion
IP perfusion is a technique whereby the physiologic parameters of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) are estimated based on the kinetics of a bolus passage of contrast through the brain. MRI perfusion provides relative measures of these parameters.

IP 3D Angiography
3D MR Angiogram and 3D CT Angiogram are techniques whereby intravenous contrast is administered rapidly to a patient and 3D imaging sets are obtained. 3D rendering depicts both the arterial and the venous systems.

IP Virtual Endoscopy
Virtual endoscopy provides simulated visualization of patient specific organs equivalent or similar to those produced by standard endoscopic procedures. This technique covers a wide range of potential clinical applications and enables physicians to reliably see an internal view of obstructed lesions and most stenoses.

IP 3D Reconstruction
3D reconstruction of medical images can improve visualization of complex anatomy in a more intuitive manner. 3D visualization includes volume rendering, surfacing and multi-planar image reformation, which optimizes the analysis of pathology in complex body parts.

IP Measurement
IP Measurement analyzes areas of medical interest using 3D image measurements based on size, position, brightness, shape and topology. The reported numerical values represent width, height and density of specific anatomical regions and can be used for treatment monitoring (i.e., drug therapy, etc.).

IP Limited
IP Limited provides image processing services for protocols that do not include a radiologist report. The results are used for research purposes only and can be found in PACS.

The CIPS lab also develops software research to extend the capabilities of the lab through creating new software tools and automated algorithms for measurement, detection, and diagnosis of clinical images. Current projects include pulmonary image analysis, breast image analysis, organ segmentation and modeling, fat measurement, dynamic contrast enhanced MRI, tumor segmentation and measurement, spine and vertebra labeling, molecular imaging and 3D visualization.

User Guidelines

To order a clinical service, access the Clinical Research Information System (CRIS) and select the appropriate IP exam.