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MARCUS KITCHEN

Marcus Kitchen

Research Fellow

BSc(Hons), Monash University, 2002.
PhD, Monash University, 2006.
Phone +61 (3) 9905 8063 FAX +61 (3) 9905 3637

Email:Marcus.Kitchen@sci.monash.edu.au

 Phase contrast image of a newborn rabbit's lungs acquired at the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility, Japan. newborn rabbit's lungs

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr Marcus Kitchen is investigating novel phase contrast X-ray imaging techniques for studying lung development, physiology and disease states using coherent synchrotron radiation. Phase contrast enhances absorption based radiographic contrast by exploiting variations in an object's refractive index. The many air/tissue interfaces within the lung provide large refractive index variations, which make them ideally suited for phase contrast imaging studies.

Dr Kitchen is continuing the research he began during his PhD where he formed a colloboration with researchers from the Monash Department of Physiology. This collaborative effort seeks to understand the mechanisms by which the lungs aerate at birth, which is critical to the survival of all neonates. Insight into this complex process will enable medical doctors to provide better care for infants born preterm with under-developed lungs, thereby increasing their survival rate. Phase contrast imaging experiments have enabled lung aeartion to be observed in rabbit pups in vivo, using the SPring-8 synchrotron facility in Japan.

Dr Kitchen has developed new methods of extracting quantitative information from various phase contrast imaging modalities. This work has been critical for the study of lung development. He has successfully devised a method of calculating regional volumes of lung aeration from 2D images sequences of newborn rabbit pups. This information is crucial for assessing the rates and patterns of lung aeration at birth.

Image Caption: “Phase contrast X-ray images of newborn rabbit pups imaged directly after birth and at two hours from birth. Fluid filled lungs are virtually impossible to distinguish from surrounding tissues. Once the airways are cleared of fluid the combined effects of phase and absorption contrast render the lungs highly visible.”

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  1. Kitchen, M.J., K.M. Pavlov, K.K.W. Siu, R.H. Menk, G. Tromba, and R.A. Lewis, Analyser-based phase contrast image reconstruction using geometrical optics. Phys. Med. Biol., 2007. 52(14): p. 4171-87.
  2. Hooper, S.B., M.J. Kitchen, M.J. Wallace, N. Yagi, K. Uesugi, M.J. Morgan, C.J. Hall, K.K.W. Siu, I.M. Williams, M. Siew, S.C. Irvine, K. Pavlov, and R.A. Lewis, Imaging lung aeration and lung liquid clearance at birth. FASEB J, 2007. 21(12): p. 3329-37.
  3. Kitchen, M.J., R.A. Lewis, S.B. Hooper, M.J. Wallace, K.K.W. Siu, I. Williams, S.C. Irvine, M.J. Morgan, D.M. Paganin, K. Pavlov, N. Yagi, and K. Uesugi. Dynamic Studies of Lung Fluid Clearance with Phase Contrast Imaging, in J.-Y. Choi and S. Rah, eds, Ninth International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation 2007, Daegu, Korea. Vol. 879 of AIP Conference Proceedings, May 28 - June 2, 2006, p. 1903-7.
  4. Kitchen, M.J., R.A. Lewis, N. Yagi, K. Uesugi, D. Paganin, S.B. Hooper, G. Adams, S. Jureczek, J. Singh, C.R. Christensen, A.P. Hufton, C.J. Hall, K.C. Cheung, and K.M. Pavlov, Phase contrast X-ray imaging of mice and rabbit lungs: a comparative study. Br. J. Radiol., 2005. 78(935): p. 1018-27.
  5. Kitchen, M.J., D. Paganin, R.A. Lewis, N. Yagi, and K. Uesugi, Analysis of speckle patterns in phase-contrast images of lung tissue. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A., 2005. 548(1-2): p. 240-6.
  6. Siu, K.K.W., M.J. Kitchen, K.M. Pavlov, J.E. Gillam, R.A. Lewis, K. Uesugi, and N. Yagi, An improvement to the diffraction enhanced imaging method that permits imaging of dynamic systems. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A., 2005. 548: p. 169-74.
  7. Lewis, R.A., N. Yagi, M.J. Kitchen, M.J. Morgan, D. Paganin, K.K.W. Siu, I. Williams, K. Uesugi, M.J. Wallace, C.J. Hall, J. Whitley, and S.B. Hooper, Dynamic Imaging of the Lungs using X-ray Phase Contrast. Phys. Med. Biol., 2005. 50(21): p. 5031-40.
  8. Pavlov, K.M., T.E. Gureyev, D. Paganin, Y.I. Nesterets, M.J. Kitchen, K.K.W. Siu, J. Gillam, K. Uesugi, N. Yagi, M.J. Morgan, and R.A. Lewis, Unification of analyser-based and propagation-based X-ray phase contrast imaging. Nucl. Intrum. Meth. A., 2005. 548: p. 163-8.
  9. Kitchen, M.J., D. Paganin, R.A. Lewis, N. Yagi, K. Uesugi, and S.T. Mudie, On the origin of speckle in x-ray phase contrast images of lung tissue. Phys. Med. Biol., 2004. 49(18): p. 4335-48.
  10. Paganin, D., T.E. Gureyev, K.M. Pavlov, R.A. Lewis, and M. Kitchen, Phase retrieval using coherent imaging systems with linear transfer functions. Opt. Commun., 2004. 234(1): p. 87-105.