Guillem Pratx
Academic Appointments
- Acting Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology - Radiation Physics
- Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology - Radiation Physics
Key Documents
Contact Information
- Academic Offices
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 724-9829
Professional Overview
Honors and Awards
- Breast Cancer Research Program postdoctoral fellowship, DoD (2010)
- Research Seed Grant, AAPM (2010)
- Dean's Fellowship, Stanford (2010)
- Bio-X Fellowship, Stanford (2006)
- NVIDIA Fellowship, NVIDIA Corp (2006)
- Bradley-Alavi Fellow, Society of Nuclear Medicine (2006)
Professional Education
| Ph.D.: | Stanford University, Electrical Engineering (2010) |
| M.S.: | Stanford University, Electrical Engineering (2006) |
| B.S.: | Ecole Centrale Paris, Engineering (2004) |
Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations
Internet Links
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
(1) Imaging of radionuclides with single-cell resolution: Currently, radionuclide tracer imaging is the most sensitive assay for probing subtle biochemical processes in living subjects. Molecular imaging with PET and SPECT has become crucial both for basic science research and for patient management. However, little is known about how those radionuclide tracers interact with cell at the single cell level. I am currently developing a new imaging tool call the radioluminescence microscope that can image these tracers in a standard microscopy environment. This new tool allows researchers at Stanford to visualize how radionuclide tracers distribute in a living cell population.
(2) X-ray molecular imaging: Molecular imaging offers the ability to probe subtle biological signals that are characteristic of disease onset and progression. It can also monitor the response of a disease to treatment before any anatomical changes occur. My research explores two emerging imaging techniques that can probe multiple disease biomarkers in a non-invasive fashion. In both imaging techniques, a contrast agent is introduced that can produce a distinguishable signal when irradiated with X-ray. This feature makes it possible to obtain molecular information during a CT examination. The two imaging techniques differ in the following: In X-ray luminescence imaging, the contrast agent is a radioluminescent nanoparticle that produces near-infrared light under X-ray irradiation. In X-ray fluorescence imaging, the contrast agent is a high-atomic-number element that emits a characteristic X-ray signal under irradiation.
(3) High-performance medical computing: Efficient computing now requires using multi- and many-core processors--which embed multiple computing elements in a single chip. New medical imaging algorithms must be designed that are aware of the parallel computing capabilities of new computer hardware. In my work, I develop medical imaging algorithms adapted to these new parallel architectures. Clinically, those algorithms can shorten the time required to process data by as much as tenfold, removing a critical bottleneck in the clinical workflow. One of the most promising platform for medical computing is the graphics processing unit: originally a gadget sought by serious computer gamers, it is now used as an inexpensive supercomputer on-a-chip by researchers in all fields.
Publications
- Development of XFCT imaging strategy for monitoring the spatial distribution of platinum-based chemodrugs: instrumentation and phantom validation. Med Phys. 2013; (3): 030701
- X-ray acoustic computed tomography with pulsed x-ray beam from a medical linear accelerator. Med Phys. 2013; (1): 010701
- X-ray excitable luminescent polymer dots doped with an iridium(III) complex. Chem Commun (Camb). 2013; (39): 4319-21
- Intraoperative imaging of tumors using Cerenkov luminescence endoscopy: a feasibility experimental study. J Nucl Med. 2012; (10): 1579-84
- Investigation of X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) and K-edge imaging. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2012; (8): 1620-7
- Radioluminescence microscopy: measuring the heterogeneous uptake of radiotracers in single living cells. PLoS One. 2012; (10): e46285
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