ACR launches national imaging registry with big plans to transform radiology research
The American College of Radiology Monday launched a new imaging registry to leverage nationwide radiology data and answer complex medical questions.
“The ACR National Clinical Imaging Research Registry (ANCIRR) is the future of radiology research registries,” Howard B. Fleishon, MD, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors, said in a statement. “The ANCIRR can democratize healthcare research by enabling radiologists who have never taken part in research studies to make vital contributions to patient care advancement.”
The ACR Center for Research and Innovation and its informatics team are managing this new informatics platform. And as of now, it contains six current and eight planned specialty registries.
The newest of the bunch—the COVID-19 Imaging Research Registry (CIRR)—is live as of April 12 with Wake Forest Baptist Health the first to contribute imaging cases and anonymized patient data.
CIRR is the primary data collection pathway for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering-funded Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center, which may be the largest coronavirus medical imaging archive in the world, according to the ACR. That registry also supplies COVID-19 images to the Society of Critical Care Medicine VIRUS COVID-19 Registry, and clinical trials run by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
The ACR also lists the Actionable Imaging Findings Research Registry (ACTRR) and ACR Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System Research Registry (TIRR) as part of this new platform. The ACTRR will help standardize global follow-up recommendations for abdominopelvic ultrasound, CT and MRI exams. TIRR, meanwhile, compares the college’s TI-RADS to other risk systems in hopes of reducing unnecessary biopsies.
Through this far-reaching imaging and data collection effort, the college has its sights set on supporting clinical research, AI development, and patient care, among many other goals.
“The ACR has a unique ability to create curated, integrated diagnostic data sets of multi-institutional data,” Pamela K. Woodard, MD, ACR Research Commission chair, said in a statement. “This ability to leverage electronic health records can fulfill the promise of digital data, aid health equity efforts and lead to more targeted patient care.”
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.