Themes

The IPASC efforts have been streamlined into four thematic areas, each of which addresses a major barrier in the translational pathway: Clinical Adoption, Standards Development, Test Objects and Methods, and Data Management. Each of these themes has a leadership team advances the broad goals of the IPASC efforts through specific thematic activities. If you are interested in the current progress and future goals of the themes, you can learn more by clicking the links below.

Data Management

The data management theme have defined a standard data format and are currently working towards a sustainable database for high-quality annotated open-access photoacoustic measurements for education, training and methodological validation.

Standards Development

The PAI community remains at a relatively early stage of standards development. The activities undertaken in this theme aim to define potential device applications and design requirements for standardisation, along with critical image quality characteristics and quantitative imaging biomarkers. Our trajectory is towards direct interface with, and later adoption into, existing standards organisations.

Test Objects and Methods

To aid reproducibility of research and instrument quality assurance / control, IPASC is working to establish consensus on ideal optical and acoustic phantom properties and geometries. Based on these consensus guidelines, agreed phantom materials and test methods will be refined and disseminated to the community.

Clinical Adoption

To promote adoption of PAI in the clinic, the PAI community needs to become more outward-facing and more comprehensively consider the needs of the clinical community. The Clinical Adoption theme promotes activites to engage the broader clinical community co-creation to maximise the future patient benefit from PAI.