Overview

Carl E. Ravin Advanced Imaging Laboratories (RAI Labs) is a center for research in advanced digital imaging techniques and applications for improved health care. Established in 1991, the group consists of over 30 faculty, staff, and research assistants affiliated with the Departments of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Physics at Duke University, Duke University Medical Center, and the Duke Medical Physics Graduate Program. The research initiatives of RAI Labs are primarily supported by federal grants from the National Institutes of Health. The group has also active collaboration with major medical imaging companies. The group prides itself in its focus on quality research with high clinical relevance toward effective medical imaging techniques with lasting clinical impact. To date, the research undertaken by the group has been the basis of over 500 scientific papers, hundred of conference presentations, and multiple patents.

Dr. Ravin makes a point during a RAI Labs weekly faculty meeting, June 2009.

Facilities and Environment

RAI Labs is part of the new Duke Medical Physics Program. Duke Hospital, one of the largest private hospitals in the United States, is part of Duke University Health System and currently is licensed for over 1000 beds. The division of breast imaging in the Department of Radiology performs over 450,000 exams each year, approximately 1000 of which are sent to biopsy each year.  RAILabs occupies over 7000 square feet of laboratory and office space. Computer facilities include a variety of workstations, which are connected through a high speed dedicated network to all of the radiology department's clinical image acquisition systems, such as digital chest radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and computed tomography.  This network also includes radiographic film digitizers and printers, and a state of the art image archiving and retrieval system.

About the Logo

The RAI Labs logo is based on the "histogram" of the Duke Chapel, the most prominent symbol of Duke University situated at the heart of the campus. The histogram is modified with added uncorrelated noise with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 5. Assuming Rose model, a SNR threshold of 3-5 is required to detect a radiographic lesion in a noisy background. A SNR value at the high end of this range was chosen for the logo to preserve some of the architectural features of the chapel.