Scan Times

Annual Update 2009/2010 Is Here!

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Awards and Honors: November 10, 2009

Gang (Tiger) Ren, MD, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Laboratory (CMICL), has a recent research publication featured on MDLinx.com: "Melanin-Targeted Preclinical PET Imaging of Melanoma Metastasis" (J Nucl Med. 2009 Oct;50(10):1692-9. Epub 2009 Sep. 16).

Dr. Ren received his medical training from the Tongji University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, and a PhD in advanced radiological sciences from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Working primarily with Professor Zhen Cheng in the Cancer Molecular Imaging Chemistry Lab, he brings his expertise in small animal imaging using microSPECT and microPET to the In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Center at Stanford (ICMIC) Program. Dr. Ren's research centers on the development of different molecular probes, including both small molecules and peptides, to target specific tumor biomarkers such as the MC1R receptor; melanin contents in malignant melanoma; and HER2/EGFR in breast cancer. He has already successfully demonstrated the potential of the molecular probes ReCCMSH, Benzamide Analogs, and Affibody molecules in preclinical animal models using microPET. He continues to work on the development of new probes as well as a novel image-guided theragnostic scheme for the management of breast cancer and lung cancer.

National Radiologic Technology Week: Nov. 8-14, 2009

By Rachel Silveria and Stanford Imaging Services

During National Radiologic Technology Week (NRTW), an annual recognition established by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT), we celebrate the great advances in radiologic technologies that have been made since the discovery of the X-ray on November 8, 1895.

The week of November 8-14th, we proudly celebrate all employees of Stanford's world-renowned Department of Radiology for continually providing outstanding care. Offering the best diagnostic imaging services and expertise while utilizing state-of-the-art technology, this Department never fails to demonstrate extraordinary teamwork by all its dedicated medical professionals. For more than one-hundred years, Stanford Radiology has made a difference in the lives of patients and their families, while continuing to . . .

Dr. Fahrig's Mummy Scans Featured in SF Museum

(Image courtesy of Mark Riesenberger)

State-of-the-art CT scans taken by Dr. Rebecca Fahrig are featured in the exhibit "Very Postmortem: Mummies and Medicine" at the Legion of Honor, one of the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco. Her scans were used in constructing a three-dimensional "fly through" movie of the anatomy of the 2,500-year-old mummy of the Egyptian Priest Iret-net Hor-irw. Chris Beaulieu, MD, PhD, chief of musculoskeletal imaging in the Department of Radiology, also lent his expertise in determining the anatomy of the mummy's musculoskeletal structure.

According to a recent article in Stanford Medicine News, "Stanford Scans of Mummy to be Featured in San Francisco Museum Exhibition," visitors will
be able to watch "visual navigations through the mummy’s anatomy, zooming in to inspect what remains of his internal organ systems and then swooping back out through the wrappings. It’s even possible to see objects, such as small amulets, buried with the mummy and hidden from view since its burial."

Dr. William Kuo and Colleagues Reveal Lifesaving Treatment for Pulmonary Embolism

Dr. William Kuo was recently featured in a Stanford Medicine News article and national press release entitled "Study Reveals Life-Saving Treatment for Pulmonary Embolism." Dr. Kuo discussed the results from his study published in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (20(11):1431-1440). Analyzing global data regarding the use of catheter-directed therapy for massive PE, he and his colleagues discovered that the therapy was life-saving in 86.5% of the 594 cases they studied. Dr. Kuo published his findings along with co-authors Lawrence Hofmann, MD, associate professor and chief of cardiovascular-interventional radiology; Daniel Sze, MD, associate professor of radiology; John Louie, MD, assistant professor of radiology; Jarrett Rosenberg, PhD, statistician; and Michael Gould, MD, associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine. The full Stanford press release can be accessed here: http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2009/october/embolism.html.

MIPS/RSL/ISIS Retreat 2009

By Julie Ruiz, PhD

MIPS
Sharing the Asilomar Conference Grounds, this year's retreats for the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) (above) and the Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL)/Information Sciences in Imaging at Stanford (ISIS) (below) overlapped by one day.
Beginning on Tuesday, September 15th, 128 people from . . .

Pediatric Musculoskeletal Interventional Program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH)

CT guided imaging at LPCH for treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The arrow shows the trajectory of the needle for placement of steroid medication into the temporomandibular joint.

By Julie Ruiz, PhD

“I was hoping my scar would be bigger,” remarked one of our pediatric patients with some disappointment as she undid her bandage. Several days earlier her bone tumor had been successfully treated through a CT-image guided ablation procedure at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH).

To treat children with bone tumors, our Chief of Pediatric Musculoskeletal Imaging at LPCH, Dr. John MacKenzie, has teamed up with Drs. Larry Rinsky, James Gamble, and Meghan Imrie, pediatric orthopedics at LPCH. Because CT-guided RF ablations for osteoid osteoma tumors require a very small incision and leave virtually no scar, other parents have also

Stanford Radiology Voted "Best Radiologist Training Program"

Voted the 2009 "Best Radiologist Training Program" by AuntMinnie.com, Stanford Radiology was recently recognized for excellence in radiological education.

Dr. Sam Gambhir Named the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Endowed Professor in Cancer Research

Sanjiv "Sam" Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor of radiology and bioengineering, was appointed the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Endowed Professorship in Cancer Research in June of 2009. At Stanford, he leads several large NCI-funded programs and serves as chief of the Nuclear Medicine Division; director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS); and head of the new Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection. To read more about his selection for this endowed professorship, please access Stanford University news at http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june17/med-endow-061709.html.
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) was established in 1971 by Mr. Daniel K. Ludwig, who also established the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research. In 2006, funds from this trust created Ludwig Centers "for the pursuit of basic science and research into the advancement of knowledge regarding the causes, origin, prevention and cure of cancer and other neoplastic diseases" at six leading academic institutions in the United States: University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and Stanford University Medical Center. At Stanford, these funds support two professorships.

Dr. Gary M. Glazer and Colleagues Use Image-Guided Insonification for Tumor Biomarker Detection

Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor in the Medical Sciences and chair of the Department of Radiology, Gary M. Glazer, MD, led a team of researchers in a ground-breaking study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), "A Strategy for Blood Biomarker Amplification and Localization Using Ultrasound," in which they apply low-frequency ultrasound directly to tumor cells, causing the release of significant amounts of biomarker measurable in the blood. Simultaneously, they provide a method for the localization of biomarker production by showing that this release of biomarkers is specific to the direct application of ultrasound to the tumor. Their research is featured in a recent Stanford news article by Bruce Goldman, "Researchers Use Ultrasound to Better Detect Tumor Biomarkers."

Dr. Glazer published his study along with co-author, Sanjiv "Sam" Gambhir, MD, PhD, Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Professor of Radiology & Bioengineering; chief of the Nuclear Medicine Division; and director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS), as well as first author Aloma D'Souza, PhD, research scientist and member of the Multimodality Molecular Imaging Lab. Other co-authors include Kim Butts Pauly, PhD, professor of radiology; Samira Guccione, PhD, assistant professor of radiology; and staff scientists Jeffrey Tseng, MD (now at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in California) and Jarrett Rosenberg, PhD, of the radiology department.