EXHALE Efficient X-ray Hub Aiding Lung Explorations

Purpose and goal

The purpose of this project is to advance understanding and treatment of chronic lung diseases, leading causes of mortality worldwide, by characterizing elements in lung tissue suspected to impact their pathogenesis. The industrial partners TrulyLabs and AnaMar in collaboration with MAX IV, Lung Biology and Correlative Image Processing and Analysis (CIPA) fom Lund University, aim to streamline a workflow of X-ray imaging studies for lung diseases, making these methods more accessible for biomedical companies and clinical researchers.

Expected effects and result

This project aims to develop a specialized tool for investigating elemental aspects of chronic lung diseases. Focused on a narrow theme, it establishes protocols, tests data treatment pipelines, and sets the stage for a multimodal-imaging framework. Immediate outcomes include obtaining elemental insights of chronic lung diseases that contributes socially and economically by advancing towards a cure. Deliverables include disseminating methodologies, presenting results at conferences and journals and connecting with new companies

Planned approach and implementation

The project plan will focus on upgrading and standarizing lung tissue sample preparation for X-Ray Fluorescence, the development of a streamlined data analysis tool and the gathering of lung disease experts for further data interpretation. Both AnaMar and Truly Labs have a strong interest in the elemental composition of chronic lung diseases and thus can exploit this workflow for their future projects. Additionally, Truly labs will take a more prominent role in the project to add XRF nano-mapping to their portfolio of techniques.