Department of Radiology: Physics & Computing

The mission of the Physics & Computing lab is to extract physiologic information from radiologic images, evaluate new radiotracers, improve the quantitative accuracy of PET imaging and to provide quality control for the PET scanners. Originally, the lab's research was primarily kinetic modeling of dynamic PET images and critically evaluating new radiotracers in collaboration with the Radiopharmaceutical Discovery Lab. This included measuring the density of different proteins in the brain [e.g., dopamine transporter (DAT), serotonin transporter (SERT), norepinephrine transporter (NET), D2-dopamine receptor, Amyloid-Beta], amino acid transport into tumor tissue, local cerebral glucose metabolism, and blood flow under different sets of conditions. More recently, the kinetic modeling techniques have been extended to determine renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rates from dynamic sets of MRI data. Currently we are working on incorporating subject motion, as measured by an external stereo camera, into image reconstruction to improve image resolution.

                                                                                                                  - John Votaw, PhD
                                                                                                                    Vice Chair for Research
                                                                                                                    Director, Physics & Computing

2 microPET scanners
HRRT scanner (high resolution PET brain imager)
3 whole body PET/CT scanners
2 multi node computer clusters

Kinetic Modeling of Norepinephrine Transporter Availability in PTSD

Principal Investigators: Jonathon A. Nye, PhD
Co- Investigators:Fanxing Zeng PhD, J. Douglas Bremner MD
Funding Organization: The University Research Committee (URC) and the Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (ACTSI)

Significance: The objective of this proposal is to collect pilot data to characterize the binding of [11C]MENET in combat-exposed war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Little is known about the dysregulation of PTSD veteran's neurochemical state including the noradrenergic system, which plays a primary role in memory and stress response. This includes heightened anxiety, fear and hyperarousal symptoms. The norepinephrine transporter (NET) is responsible for regulating and terminating noradrenergic transmission, and is a specific marker for neuronal integrity. Through a series of experiments we will determine the in vivo binding characteristics of the specific NET marker [11C]MENET using PET imaging. Our long-term goal is to develop a longitudinal study framework to assess the NET�s dysregulation during onset of PTSD as well as its transition to chronic lifetime PTSD.

NIH Study Section Panel

Dr. Fei was invited to particpate the NIH Biomedical Imaging Technology (BMIT) Study Section. The BMIT Study Section reviews grant applications involving basic, applied, and pre-clinical aspects of the design and development of medical imaging system technologies, their components, software, and mathematical methods for studies at the cellular, organ, small or large animal, and human scale.

Young Investigator Award - First Place, Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) - Computer and Instrumentation Council

Baowei Fei, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering

At the 57th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) in Salt Lake City, Utah in June 2010, Dr. Baowei Fei received the Young Investigator Award for his research on Image Quantification and Attenuation Correction for Combined MRI/PET. Dr. Fei received the 1st place award from the SNM Computer and Instrumentation Council. He has developed tools for image registration, classification, segmentation and attenuation correction for the potential use in combined MRI/PET. Other colleagues who contributed to this work include Mr. Xiaofeng Yang, Dr. Jonathon Nye, Ms. Margie Jones, Dr. John Aarsvold, Ms. Nivedita Raghunath, Dr. Carolyn Meltzer and Dr. John Votaw.