Advances in Multimodality Molecular Imaging Technology

Prof. Habib Zaidi

(Habib Zaidi, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland and University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands)

Multimodality molecular imaging is now playing a pivotal role in clinical setting and biomedical research. Modern molecular imaging technologies are deemed to potentially lead to a revolutionary paradigm shift in healthcare and revolutionize clinical practice. Within the spectrum of macroscopic medical imaging, sensitivity ranges from the detection of millimolar to submillimolar concentrations of contrast media with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), respectively, to picomolar concentrations in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET): a 108-109 difference.
Even though the introduction of dedicated dual-modality (PET/CT, SPECT/CT and PET/MRI) imaging systems designed specifically and available commercially for clinical practice is relatively recent, the concept of combining anatomical and functional imaging has been recognized for several decades. Software- and hardware-based correlation between anatomical (x-ray CT, MRI) and physiological (PET) information is a promising research field and now offers unique capabilities for the medical imaging community and biomedical researchers. The introduction of dual-modality PET/CT and PET/MR imaging systems in clinical environments has revolutionized the practice of diagnostic imaging. The complementarity between the intrinsically aligned anatomic and functional or metabolic information provided in a “one-stop shop” and the possibility to use anatomical (CT/MRI) images for attenuation correction of the PET data has been the driving force behind the success of this technology. This talk discusses the advantages and challenges of multimodality imaging systems. Future opportunities and the challenges facing the adoption of multimodality imaging technologies and their role in biomedical research will also be addressed.
This talk represents a complete and balanced review of the subject having a broad scope and coverage of quantitative analysis of molecular medical images, which is growing in importance both for clinical and research applications. Prospective applications of quantitative molecular imaging are also addressed especially its use prior to therapy for dose distribution modelling and optimisation of treatment volumes in external radiation therapy and patient-specific 3D dosimetry in targeted therapy towards the concept of image-guided radiation therapy.

Biography:

PD Habib Zaidi Ph.D is Chief Physicist and head of the PET Instrumentation & Neuroimaging Laboratory at Geneva University Hospital and faculty member at the medical school of Geneva University. He is also a Professor of Medical Physics at the University Medical Center of Groningen (The Netherlands) and visiting Professor at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Electronique et de ses Applications (ENSEA, France). He received a Ph.D. and habilitation (PD) in medical physics from Geneva University for dissertations on Monte Carlo modelling and quantitative analysis in positron emission tomography. Dr. Zaidi is actively involved in developing imaging solutions for cutting-edge interdisciplinary biomedical research and clinical diagnosis in addition to lecturing undergraduate and postgraduate courses on medical physics and medical imaging. His research is supported by the Swiss National Foundation and centres on modelling nuclear medical imaging systems using the Monte Carlo method, dosimetry, image correction, reconstruction and quantification techniques in emission tomography as well as statistical image analysis in molecular brain imaging, and more recently on novel design of dedicated high-resolution PET and combined PET-MR scanners. He was guest editor for 7 special issues of peer-reviewed journals dedicated to Medical Image Segmentation, PET Instrumentation and Novel Quantitative Techniques, Computational Anthropomorphic Anatomical Models, Respiratory and Cardiac Gating in PET Imaging, Evolving medical imaging techniques and Trends in PET quantification (2 parts) and serves as Past Editor-in-Chief for the Open Medical Imaging Journal, Deputy Editor for the British Journal of Radiology, Associate editor for Medical Physics, the International Journal of Biomedical Imaging, the International Journal of Tomography & Simulation and the Journal of Engineering & Applied Sciences. He is also a member of the editorial board of Nuclear Medicine Communications, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, International Journal of Molecular Imaging, Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal, the American Journal of Cancer Science, the Open Medical Imaging Journal, the Open Neuroimaging Journal, International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Consumer Health Informatics and Recent Patents on Medical Imaging and serves as scientific reviewer for leading journals in medical imaging. He is a senior member of the IEEE and liaison representative of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) to the World Health Organization (WHO) in addition to being affiliated to several International medical physics and nuclear medicine organisations. He is involved in the evaluation of research proposals for European and International granting organisations and participates in the organisation of International symposia and top conferences as member of scientific committees. His academic accomplishments in the area of quantitative PET imaging have been well recognized by his peers and by the medical imaging community at large since he is a recipient of many awards and distinctions among which the prestigious 2003 Young Investigator Medical Imaging Science Award given by the Nuclear Medical and Imaging Sciences Technical Committee of the IEEE, the 2004 Mark Tetalman Memorial Award given by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the 2007 Young Scientist Prize in Biological Physics given by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the prestigious (100’000$) 2010 kuwait Prize of Applied sciences (known as the Middle Eastern Nobel Prize) given by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) for “outstanding accomplishments in Biomedical technology”, the 2013 John S. Laughlin Young Scientist Award given by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the 2013 Vikram Sarabhai Oration Award given by the Society of Nuclear Medicine (India). Dr. Zaidi has been an invited speaker of many keynote lectures at an International level, has authored over 380 publications, including ~170 peer-reviewed journal articles (h-index=28), conference proceedings and book chapters and is the editor of three textbooks on Therapeutic Applications of Monte Carlo Calculations in Nuclear Medicine, Quantitative Analysis in Nuclear Medicine Imaging and Multimodality Molecular Imaging of Small Animals.
email: habib.zaidi@hcuge.ch
Web: http://pinlab.hcuge.ch/