The accelerating complexity of medical imaging technologies makes the optimization of their design and use a challenge, both in scientific inquiry and clinical application. Evaluating new imaging technologies and applications in clinical imaging trials is often not feasible or conclusive due to ethical limitations, costs, time-requirements, difficulty in accruing enough subjects, or a lack of ground truth. Imaging technologies are often assessed with simplistic models and subjective perceptions of image quality, which are poor predictors of clinical utility, leaving the effectiveness of many imaging techniques tenuous.
Virtual imaging trials (VITs) allow scientists to conduct realistic and accurate simulated human trials of emerging imaging concepts and technologies. Such trials involve experiments that are conducted quickly and cost effectively on a computer. The virtual trials enable researchers to answer questions by using precise controls. In this presentation, we discuss the components and needs of VITs in terms of realistic modeling of the patient, the imaging system and the image interpreter. We further discuss the need for realism in the simulations and demonstrate select applications in CT imaging.
Learning objectives
To understand the potential of virtual trials in medicine
To understand the components of virtual imaging trials: computational human models, imaging simulators and image analysis methods
To understand the strength and limitation of the VIT, as well as areas for further research
About the presenter
Ehsan Samei, PhD, DABR, FAAPM, FSPIE, FAIMBE is a medical physicist and a tenured Professor of Radiology, Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Physics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University. He is an imaging scientist with an active interest in bridging the gap between scientific scholarship and clinical practice. He is the chief clinical physicist and the head of the medical physics program at Duke University. He is also the chair of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine’s Medical Physics 3.0 initiative. He has mentored over 100 trainees, published over 270 referred journal papers and received over 30 extramural grants.
