Clinical Immersion - Week III

It's that time of the week!

The past week has varied dramatically from reading papers to attending meetings to starting the long process of analyzing trabecular microarchitecture in femoral condyles. At the beginning of the week, I was tasked with getting acquainted with some of the work being undertaken on whole-body multi-row detector CT scanning (better known as MDCT) by reading a series of papers on current research into applying the technique to clinical situations that are very commonplace to HSS such as bone radiology. The premise behind this research is the fact that while key parameters of bone can be readily identified using common techniques in CT scanning, such as bone mineral density and morphology, the analysis does not often lead to proper diagnosis of chronic bone disorders such as osteoporosis. A version of CT known as μCT has the ability to more properly isolate and identify aberrations in bone morphology but it's not approved for use in actual patients given the harsh levels of radiation required to perform imaging. At the intersection we can find MDCT, which can produce mid-resolution images without harsh doses of radiation, leading to an enhanced acquisition of information during clinical imaging.

Given the promise of a better way to diagnose bone conditions in patients at HSS, the MRI Center has established a collaboration involving GE technicians from Schenectady, NY and scientists from Cornell University to implement a novel software algorithm to MDCT images, resulting in high quality with desired low levels of radiation. My task in this collaboration has been to analyze both normal and experimental MDCT images of femoral condyles of cadaveric specimens for trabecular microarchitecture using spectral analysis of decomposed images. Given the various specimens to analyze, this work is expected to take most of my remaining time at HSS given the shear amount of data that will be gathered. Even if most work is accomplished relatively quickly, there's already interest in going beyond trabecular microarchitecture towards other bone properties such as cortical bone porosity. It's the laboratory's hope that this research will eventually not only benefit clinical practices at HSS but also help update current protocols being employed by Cornell University for bone analysis, having a widespread impact from biomedical engineering to veterinary research.

This past week was also the MRI Center's monthly research update seminar, during which various members share updates about the current state from their research. This month saw the culmination of endless NIH grant and scientific paper submissions from most of the researchers, with most ultimately sharing really encouraging news. The meeting also illustrated the breadth of scientific inquiry taking place at the laboratory, going from arthritis and ACL injury to thumb cartilage and peripheral nervous system damage; each project is usually lead by a single person but the element of collaboration between all members becomes readily apparent. It was also insightful to see how each team member was able to bring their unique insight given their level of specialization (the team is comprised of people that either have a master's degree, doctoral degree, or professional degree in human or veterinary medicine).

With the first round of imaging done, I am already looking forward to meeting with Dr. Potter on Monday to discuss how to best approach the analysis of all the bone images available to the laboratory. Additionally, after finishing arrangements with orthopaedic surgeons at HSS, next week will be my first official week of surgeon shadowing, starting with Dr. Mathias Bostrom's clinical rounds of Wednesday and Thursday's surgeries (looks like an all day case). Outside lab life goes on, with this weekend having dedicated myself to exploring the borough of Brooklyn, arguably the hippest part of NYC. From Brooklyn Bridge to Williamsburg, the diversity of all the different neighborhoods blends into a rather nice spectacle for tourists and natives to take in. As the weekend comes to an end and the program nears its midpoint, I continue to feel invigorated to keep going forward in MRI research.

Restaurant of the week: Xi'an Famous Foods