Development of Advanced Instrumentaion for Body Composition Analysis

身体成分分析X射线实验室在麦克马斯特大学有一个新的地点和一个新的翻新空间。该实验室的使命以及我和我的HQP团队开展的工作旨在将电磁辐射用于解决卫生部门明确界定的问题的应用中。我们的主要任务是设计、开发、测试和优化可用于帮助解决真实患者和医疗保健提供者正在经历的问题的仪器。该实验室目前有三个X射线分析系统。其中两个系统是由我和在我的监督下工作了5年的团队设计的，正如我在上一次NSERC发现应用程序中所建议的那样。在过去的两年里，我们还开发了由成功的CFI奖资助的光学光谱仪器。在未来五年内，这些实验室系统将进一步开发和使用，以解决外科肿瘤学中的边缘检测问题，重点是乳腺癌，但应用于其他重要器官，如脑和肺。这一手术边缘检测系统将为患者和外科医生带来极大的好处，我们与圣约瑟夫斯医院和汉密尔顿的尤拉文斯基癌症中心的社区临床合作伙伴密切合作。 一种市面上可以买到的便携式X射线分析设备已经被用来评估皮肤中的铁浓度，作为全身铁负荷的标志。我目前正在开发一种使用放射性核素源的类似仪器，该仪器是在以前工作的基础上进行的。其目的是开发并使用一种便携式设备来测量因铁超载或缺铁而患上疾病的患者皮肤中的铁浓度。我的一位HQP最近发表的研究成果清楚地表明，在动物研究中，皮肤铁水平和关键器官水平之间存在相关性。一名学生最近完成的进一步研究表明，人类皮肤和肝脏的铁水平之间存在很强的相关性。这项工作是与麦克马斯特健康科学的同事合作完成的，他们看到了在临床上通过快速非侵入性测量来评估铁水平的巨大好处。 我的团队还将在身体成分评估方面开展进一步的基础研究。我们将继续使用高强度、高空间分辨率的同步辐射光源。我目前正在与德克萨斯大学和哈佛医学院合作，研究前列腺癌中金属的水平和分布，以及它在使用磁共振成像检测前列腺癌方面的相关应用。 这项持续的NSE工作将专注于开发对人类健康具有巨大价值的尖端技术和实验工作，并培训下一代加拿大科学家，他们将体验到公平、多样化和包容的环境。

The X-ray Laboratory for Body Composition Analysis, has a new location and a newly refurbished space at McMaster University. The mission of the laboratory and the work carried out by myself and my HQP team is aimed at using electromagnetic radiation in applications that address well defined problems in the health sector. Our primary task is to design, develop, test and optimize instrumentation that can be used to help solve problems real patients and health care providers are experiencing. The laboratory presently contains three X-Ray analysis systems. Two of these systems were designed by myself and the team working under my supervision over the past 5 years as proposed in my last NSERC discovery application. Over the last two years we have also developed optical spectroscopy instrumentation funded by a successful CFI award. Over the period of the next five years, these laboratory systems will be further developed and used to solve the problem of margin detection in surgical oncology, focusing on breast cancer but with applications for other important organs e.g. brain and lung. This surgical margin detection system will be of great benefit to patients and surgeons and we work very closely with our community clinical partners at St. Josephs Hospital and the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton. A commercially available handheld portable X-Ray analysis device has been used to assess iron concentrations in skin as a marker for total body iron burden. I am currently working on developing a similar instrument using a radionuclide source based on this previous work. The aim is to develop and use a portable device to measure the iron concentrations in the skin of patients suffering from conditions resulting from iron overload or iron deficiency. Recent published work by one of my HQP has clearly shown a correlation between skin iron levels and critical organ levels in animal studies. Further work recently completed by a student has shown a strong correlation between skin and liver iron levels in humans. This work is a collaboration with colleagues in the Health Sciences at McMaster, who see the huge benefit of being able to assess iron levels with a quick non-invasive measurement in the clinic. My team will also carry out further fundamental research in the assessment of body composition. We will continue work using high intensity, high spatial resolution synchrotron light sources. I am currently working in a collaboration with the University of Texas and Harvard Medical School to examine the levels and distribution of metals in prostate cancer and the associated applications this can have with prostate cancer detection using magnetic resonance imaging. This continuing NSE work will focus on developing cutting edge technologies and experimental work that will have immense value to human health and train the next generation of Canadian scientists that will have experienced an environment of equity, diversity and inclusion.