University of Chicago Medicine received a $20 million federal grant to support a new medical images database focused on COVID-19 patients, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Five things to know:
1. The new database will collect X-rays and CT scans of COVID-19 patients. It will be an open source database that allows researchers around the world to access the information for COVID-19 research.
2. University of Chicago Medicine contracted with the National Institutes of Health to develop the virtual center, which it expects to include 10,000-plus images within three months of launching. The two-year contract could be renewed for another $50 million, five-year contract.
3. Maryellen Giger, PhD, a radiology and medical physics professor at the University of Chicago, is leading the center alongside officials from professional societies.
4. The initiative will include researchers from 20 U.S. universities.
5. The center's executive advisory committee is overseeing a project to apply machine learning that will detect when a patient has pneumonia unrelated to COVID-19.
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