CLEVELAND, OHIO -- -- ImageIQ, Inc., announced today that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and The Midura Laboratory at the Lerner Research Institute (LRI) of Cleveland Clinic have selected ImageIQ to assist in their study of space flight-induced vascular alterations in the lower leg. ImageIQ will provide customized image acquisition and analysis for a vascular research study aboard the NASA STS-135 mission, shuttle Atlantis’ final voyage, scheduled for July 8, 2011. ImageIQ provides imaging analytics, software engineering and visualization services for research, medical device and pharmaceutical organizations.
ImageIQ will be using its extensive software library and preclinical imaging expertise to develop highly custom-tailored 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional imaging and image analysis techniques to produce objective and quantified data from the imaging work it will perform for the Midura Lab during this study. The study is a collaborative effort among NASA Ames, BioServe Space Technologies, and Amgen that will evaluate a novel therapeutic countermeasure to prevent space flight induced bone loss in mice. In addition to oversight, NASA Ames will provide the necessary funding to execute Dr. Midura’s investigation of lower leg vascular alterations resulting from space flight. The Midura Lab at LRI has a prior history of musculoskeletal research collaboration with NASA Ames. One of the Midura lab’s current research programs is funded by NASA (“Hypo-gravity Induces Vascular Atrophy Leading to Bone Loss;” grant #NNX10AE40G). Drs. N. Patrick McCabe and Caroline Androjna will be present at Kennedy Space Center for the shuttle landing in order to retrieve the study specimens for the Midura Lab.
The Midura Lab will leverage the decades of preclinical life science research experience that the ImageIQ team garnered from its tenure inside Cleveland Clinic, where it existed as the Biomedical Imaging and Analysis Core for the past decade.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with NASA and the Midura Lab to support such a unique and exciting musculoskeletal study”, said Dr. Amit Vasanji, Chief Technology Officer at ImageIQ. “The complexity of vascular remodeling research will benefit from a finely-tuned and sophisticated approach to image analysis and visualization. ImageIQ provides a unique combination of preclinical imaging, image analysis, and software engineering expertise that will greatly enhance the NASA research study associated with shuttle Atlantis’ final voyage. We are excited to apply our proprietary approach to orthopedic image acquisition and analysis developed over the past 10 years to provide highly quantitative data in the shortest amount of time for the Midura Lab at Cleveland Clinic.”
“The complexity of our vascular remodeling research requires a finely-tuned and sophisticated approach to image analysis and visualization. As my lab conducts more and more complex musculoskeletal investigations, the use of custom-tailored imaging and image analysis will continue to be an indispensible tool to produce objective data of high precision and rigor. The only cost-effective and thorough way to analyze large volumes of multi-dimensional image data is through automated and custom-tailored software,” said Ronald Midura, Ph.D. Full Staff in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at LRI.
About ImageIQ
ImageIQ is an Imaging Contract Research Organization (ICRO) that combines software engineering with biomedical and imaging expertise to provide quantitative visual analysis that enhances R&D and product efficacy/safety testing for research, medical device and pharmaceutical organizations. Incubated within Cleveland Clinic for the better part of a decade, ImageIQ provides customized image analytics and reporting, delivering objective quantitative evidence that speeds time to discovery and market entry, reduces internal overhead and improves grant proposal attractiveness and fundability. By advancing the speed of research, ImageIQ customers can extend their expertise and abilities and complete work quickly, allowing innovative staff members to focus on creative solutions to research. www.Image-IQ.com
About The Midura Lab at Cleveland Clinic
The Midura Lab is an internationally known biomedical engineering research lab within the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic, specializing in bone remodeling, fracture healing and osteoporosis research for application in musculoskeletal tissue engineering. The Midura Lab has many distinguished researchers as alumni and has made numerous contributions to the field of bone biology and orthopedic research, including its significant involvement in musculoskeletal research with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) through its NASA contract NCC 9-58. In collaboration with NASA as well as many other prominent research institutions, the Midura Lab is at the forefront of orthopedic research. http://www.lerner.ccf.org/bme/midura/
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