Abdominal Imaging and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin has a long history of successful NIH and private grant funding. In the past decade we have been awarded over $23,000,000 dollars from federal and private sources to support our research programs. We currently have NIH R01 grants in tumor ablation, CT colonography, molecular diapeutics, and liver imaging.
The section works closely with the largest medical physics department in the country, and we are home to two active research laboratories: Molecular Diapeutics (Jamey Weichert, PhD) and Tumor Ablation (Christopher L Brace, PhD). Both of these labs have extensive NIH and private funding, and each has been the birthplace of a UW-Madison spin-off company (Novelos, Inc., and NeuWave Medical, Inc.). Scott B Reeder, MD, PhD leads the multidisciplinary Liver Imaging Research Program (LIRP), a federally funded group which is focused on the imaging of focal and non-focal liver diseases. This program combines the talents of radiologists, hepatologists, medical physicists, and transplant surgeons, and has an impressive track record of publication and extramural funding.
The Abdominal Imaging and Intervention Section employs multiple nurse-clinicians to support both the clinical and research endeavors of the virtual colonoscopy, tumor ablation, image-guided procedures, and cancer imaging programs. A $32,000,000 strategic alliance with GE Medical provides the latest software and hardware advances for use by section members, and our section is actively involved with research to improve and advance imaging science through collaborative relationships with multiple local and national/international biotechnology companies.
Learn more below about several nationally- and internationally- recognized research programs supported by the Abdominal Imaging and Intervention Section.
Abdominal Imaging and Intervention Research Programs
Tumor Ablation Lab
Our primary goal is to develop minimally invasive techniques to treat cancer. We use small-diameter applicators to destroy malignant tissue while minimizing damage to normal, healthy tissue. We are a cross-disciplinary group, working to take ideas from the bench to the clinic—from conceptualization to computer modeling, construction of prototypes and preclinical testing, to optimization and clinical trials.
UW GE CT Protocol Partnership
At the University of Wisconsin – Madison, the Departments of Radiology and Medical Physics have been collaborating with the hospital staff to refine CT imaging protocols in an effort to reduce dose, enable the acquisition of more clinically useful images, and reduce the frequency of repeat scans. The UW CT protocols have been in a…
Advanced CT Imaging
The CT research program at UW-Madison is actively engaged in projects on advanced CT data acquisition methods, advanced CT image reconstruction and post-processing methods, and translational research to bring cutting-edge CT technologies into clinical practice. Under the direction of Drs. Meghan Lubner and Guang-Hong Chen, the CT program features extensive collaboration among medical physicists, radiologists, and industrial engineers…
CT Colonography (Virtual Colonoscopy)
The University of Wisconsin has the world’s most extensive clinical and research experience in CT colonography (CTC, also known as virtual colonoscopy). Under the leadership of Drs. Perry Pickhardt and David Kim, this program has performed over 10,000 cases, and has produced more than 200 related scientific publications (including two landmark NEJM articles), a reference textbook, and over…
Abdominal/Pelvic MRI
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a recognized world leader in the development, validation and clinical implementation of advanced methods for abdominal MRI. The group is well known for pioneering work in quantitative biomarkers of liver fat and iron overload and for work in 4D flow MRI methods to evaluate complex flow patterns in the abdominal…