The goal of this project is to establish a registry and biorepository of images and biological samples from subjects undergoing novel pulmonary imaging methods to be used for future research aimed toward identifying clinical applications of imaging methods and toward understanding the physiological significance of imaging biomarkers. This registry and biorepository will accelerate the development of these imaging techniques and may lead toward future clinical adoption of quantitative pulmonary imaging.

Imaging is increasingly used for the non-invasive assessment of pulmonary health. Alongside this increased usage, there is enhanced interest in quantitative imaging methods that provide robust, repeatable, and objective measures of lung structure and function. At the forefront of this effort is quantitative computed tomography (qCT). CT imaging is the gold standard for high-resolution imaging of pulmonary structure, and the underlying physics of CT imaging is highly amenable to quantitative analysis.

In addition to qCT, MRI is garnering increased interest as a modality for pulmonary imaging. Like CT, MRI is non-invasive, and it has the additional advantage of being ionizing radiation-free, making it more suitable for repeat imaging and for use in pediatric patients. Traditionally, MRI was not often used for lung imaging due to several difficulties regarding the acquisition of quality images in the lungs. However, recent advances to pulmonary MRI methods have enabled the acquisition of high-quality images of pulmonary structure and function. These advances include the use of ultra-short and zero echo time (UTE and ZTE, respectively) MRI methods, as well as the use of gaseous contrast agents such as hyperpolarized 129Xe.

Despite these advances in qCT and MRI methods, the clinical applications for these imaging techniques are often unclear. Moreover, as new techniques, many of the imaging biomarkers in use have been independently developed by multiple sites and thus require standardization. As such, there is an urgent need both to standardize imaging/analysis techniques and to determine optimal clinical applications for these novel quantitative imaging methods.

Inclusion Criteria:

• The participant is enrolling/has enrolled in a research study at the University of Kansas Medical Center that involves Pulmonary MRI and/or Pulmonary CT.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The participant declines to participate.

Participating in an Imaging Study at KUMC

Collaborators at KUMC that are not on the study team may request access to identified or deidentified data/biospecimens from this project. Collaborators may include parties outside of KUMC, in which case only deidentified data will be shared. When potential collaborators request access to data and/or biospecimens, the following will be considered: research question and study design, timing of request, and amount of specimen needed. Corporate entities will not be allowed access to data or samples from the biobank.

Contact Peter J. Niedbalski, PhD to discuss accessing IPD.