Sunday, June 1, 2025
6/1/2025
Multi-Contrast Chest Radiography (MC-CXR) for COVID-19 Diagnosis and Screening - Abstract As of 4/30/2020, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected more than one million people and caused 60,057 deaths in the United States. Neither the clinical symptoms nor the radiological features of COVID- 19 are specific to the disease, resulting in significant challenges to the screening and early diagnosis of this highly infectious disease. The current gold standard method for COVID-19 diagnosis, the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, has a relatively long turnaround time. Chest x-ray radiography (CXR) has been widely used in the United States for COVID-19 assessment since the first case reported in the US. However, the major challenge with the use of CXR is its low sensitivity and specificity to COVID-19, which is largely attributed to the lack of x-ray absorption contrast sensitivity to mild alveolar damages in the early phases of COVID-19. In this Emergency Competitive Revision, we offer a quick response to the imperative clinical need to improve the diagnostic accuracy of CXR to COVID-19 by leveraging the multi-contrast x-ray imaging technology developed in our ongoing R01 project (EB020521). In particular, the x-ray dark field contrast mechanism is orders of magnitude more sensitive to partial fillings or collapses of alveoli and thus is expected to offer a significant boost to CXR’s sensitivity to alveolar damage. We will quickly construct a multi-contrast chest x-ray radiography (MC-CXR) system, characterize its physical performance, evaluate its radiation safety, and optimize its scan protocols. Finally, we will conduct a pilot human subject study to collect initial evidence for its clinical value in diagnosing COVID-19. Considering the high likelihood for a second wave of COVID-19, the availability of the proposed MC-CXR system can facilitate the hospital systems to cope with additional rounds of patient surge by providing rapid “entrance” assessment of COVID-19.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).