Medical Diagnostic Imaging Solutions – In Space
CSA-IRAP Colloquium “Healthcare Without Boundaries”
On June 2, KA Imaging’s Dr. Karim S. Karim presented a video at the 2021 CSA-IRAP Colloquium, hosted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in collaboration with the National Research Council Canada – Industrial Research Assistance Program (MRC IRAP), entitled “Portable, Single Exposure, Dual-energy Subtraction X-ray Imaging Solution for Improved Medical Diagnostic Imaging in Point-of-care Settings”.
Dual-energy subtraction (DES) X-ray, used as an alternative to digital X-ray, detects more cancer3, pneumonia2, tuberculosis4, rib fractures, and coronary calcifications5 than the alternative. Despite this superior clinical performance, old DES techniques are not typically used due to inconsistent images from motion artifacts, and the requirement of a fixed imaging room.
KA Imaging’s solution to these problems is Reveal™ 35C, a single exposure, portable, digital DES X-ray detector that overcomes both image quality and accessibility concerns. Reveal’s light weight and portability opens up new opportunities for point-of-care DES X-ray imaging.
The Potential for Terrestrial/Space Application:
Reveal 35C is a highly accessible, low maintenance alternative to computed tomography (CT) equipment. The complete imaging system would weigh less than 10 kg (including a 5 kg X-ray source and a 3.5 kg Reveal 35C X-ray detector) making it ideal for medical diagnostic imaging in both terrestrial and space applications.
About the Healthcare Without Boundaries Colloquium:
This forum for the research community, industry, government, and academia enables people to learn more about the challenges and opportunities within the space health innovation ecosystem. Projects that were sponsored by the CSA and the NRC IRAP showed commitment to accelerating health technology research and development projects for the benefit of terrestrial and space communities.
On-demand recordings for participants with login information are available here:
https://pheedloop.com/EVELVWSOPJUZR/virtual/
References
1. Kuhl, Janet E., Jannette Collins, Gregory N. Brooks, Donald R. Yandow, and Lynn S. Broderick. “Dual-energy subtraction chest radiography: what to look for beyond calcified nodules,” Radiograpics 26, no. 1 (2006): 79-92.
2. Martini, Katarina, Marco Baessler, Stephen Baumueller and Thomas Frauenfelder. “Diagnostic accuracy and added value of dual-energy subtraction radiography compared to standard conventional radiography using computed tomography as standard of reference.” PloS one 12, 3 (2019): e0174285
3. Oda, Seitaro, Kazuo Awai, Yoshinori Funama, Daisuke Utsunomiya, Yumi Yanaga, Koichi Kawanaka, Takeshi Nakaura et al. “Detection of small pulmonary nodules on chest radiographs: efficacy of dual-energy subtraction technique using flat-panel detector chest radiography.” Clinical radiology 65, no. 8 (2010): 609-615.
4. Sharma, Madhurima, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Ujjwal Gorsi, Dheeraj Gupta, and Niranjan Khandelwal. “Role of digital tomosynthesis and dual energy subtraction digital radiography in detection of parenchymal lesions in active pulmonary tuberculosis.” European Journal of Radiology 84, no. 9 (2015): 1820-1827.
5. Song, Yingnan, Hao Wu Di Wen, Bo Zhu. Philipp Graner, Leslie Ciancibello, Haran Rajeswaran et al. “Detection of coronary calcifications with dual energy chest X-rays: clinical evaluation.” The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging (2020): 1-8.