Enhanced Imaging of the Tissue Structures in the Human Spine
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Enhanced Imaging of the Tissue Structures in the Human Spine
IRAS ID
213286
Contact name
R.K. Wilcox
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Back Pain is the single leading cause of disability worldwide. It affects 8 out of 10 people at some point during their lives. It is primarily due to degenerative tissue structures in the spine. Understanding of the structure and the function of the constituent tissues, during and after degenerative changes occur has advanced but detecting early structural changes remains limited by the scope of the methods and technologies used for diagnosis. The burden on fiscal resources, coupled with the demands of an increasingly active population requiring treatment, mean there is a need to develop both earlier, more effective, interventions for back pain alongside improved diagnostic strategies to identify the patient cohorts who would benefit from such therapies.
Our research work has resulted in the development of several Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) protocols that allow better visualisation and identification of complex spinal structures of ex-vivo specimens. These imaging methods have been used to generate computer models of the spine that simulate the effects of different early-stage interventions. This trial intends to explore the feasibility that these non-invasive imaging protocols could be used successfully on the participants as a proof of concept and to characterise the sensitivity of the tools with increasing levels of tissue complexity and pathology. The image data will also be used to develop banks of computer models to enable the simulation of the variance that occurs in the back-pain patient population. Subjects with back pain will be recruited from the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust spinal referrals and volunteers for healthy controls will be recruited through public notices at the University of Leeds and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.
The 3-year study is funded by the European Research Council. The outcomes will be published on the funder’s website as well as on international journals with free public access.REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0401
Date of REC Opinion
5 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion