Research to Improve Care for People With Cardiopulmonary Diseases
In the Center for Pulmonary Imaging Research (CPIR), physicists, chemists and engineers collaborate with biologists and clinicians to perform functional and structural imaging in the adult and developing lung across a myriad of cardiopulmonary diseases.
Our work is fundamentally rooted in basic science that includes novel imaging methodologies, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), preclinical imaging, and improving image reconstruction and analysis techniques. Our primary goal is to translate our scientific findings and new imaging methods to clinical trials that ultimately impact patient care.
Some of the key technologies driving our research include inhaled hyperpolarized xenon-129 (129Xe) gas, ultra-short echo-time (UTE) imaging, and deep learning/artificial intelligence. We use these and other cutting-edge, non-invasive imaging techniques combined with CFD to quantify structural and microstructural remodeling and respiratory pathophysiology—aberrant airway dynamics, ventilation, perfusion, and gas exchange—across the spectrum of pediatric and adult lung diseases.
Our current areas of interest include:
- Obstructive lung diseases (cystic fibrosis, asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Neonatal and infant imaging research
- Interstitial, rare-lung diseases, and transplantation
- Computational fluid dynamics and airway research
- MRI technical developments
- Pre-clinical imaging
