Musculoskeletal

The UC San Francisco Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging is pleased to announce that Sharmila Majumdar, PhD has been awarded a research grant for the Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) Research Program by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to tackle the national opioid crisis.

Overall, many people are unaware of the importance of osteoporosis screening and preventive measures that can be taken. Regular screening can diagnose osteoporosis and other bone problems early.

Using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), Matthew Bucknor, MD and his team are finding new ways to treat patients with uterine fibroids and bone metastasis.

Richard Souza, PhD, PT, and his team are working with UCSF radiologists on lower extremities biomechanics research to change loading profiles and intervene in the osteoarthritis disease process.

The research of Sharmila Majumdar, PhD, focuses on osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and lower back pain, particularly on quantitative musculoskeletal imaging image processing and artificial intelligence applied to the musculoskeletal system.

Thomas Link, MD, PhD's research is focused on degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system, in particular on osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Valentina Pedoia, PhD is a data scientist applying computer vision and machine learning techniques to MRI scans to study musculoskeletal disorders.

Deep learning has become a powerful tool in radiology in recent years. Researchers at the UC San Francisco Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging have started using deep learning methods to characterize joint degeneration and osteoarthritis, which will ultimately reduce the number of total joint replacements.

An invitation to serve athletes’ imaging needs at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics was a highpoint of the lengthy and celebrated career of Lynne Steinbach, MD. “To nurture a lifelong interest in sports imaging and then to be in the presence of the greatest athletes of our time was a dream come true,” shared Dr. Steinbach about the experience.

Through the use of imaging, Dr. Sharmila Majumdar and her team of musculoskeletal researchers have sought to find specific identifiers of joint degeneration.