The shift in paradigm to precision medicine in imaging: International initiatives for the promotion of imaging biomarkers

Abstract

Imaging biomarker includes the development, standardization, and optimization of imaging acquisition protocols, data analyses, display methods, and reporting structures. These are requirements for the validation of accurately obtained image-derived metrics with anatomically and physiologically relevant parameters in different oncologic as well as non-oncologic diseases in different organs of the human body and the monitoring of treatment response. Therefore, the use of such metrics will play a crucial role in research and patient care. The process of acquiring a clinical imaging scan is complex; thus, the goals of standardization and improved reproducibility require coordinated activity among imaging device and software manufacturers, regulatory organizations, healthcare providers, academic institutions, groups using imaging in clinical trials, and professional societies. Example of a collaborative activity addressing these issues is the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA), organized in 2007 by the RSNA, and the European Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (EIBALL) founded in 2015 to unite researchers, healthcare professionals, and industry stakeholders in the advancement of quantitative imaging.