Using imaging to measure bone changes

Sarah Manske remembers exactly when she became interested in bones and bone imaging. “I visited a lab at the University of British Columbia that was collecting data on how physical activity affects bone formation in kids. I was intrigued by the fact that bone is something that can adapt, and that drew me in,” she says. But it was the imaging technology in the lab that really fascinated her. “The lab had a pQCT scanner that at the time was the latest and greatest. I saw all these detailed, colourful images on the screen and found it fascinating.” Manske endedup joining the lab to do her master’s degree, focusing on using imaging techniques to measure bone adaptations.

Today, as a new principal investigator running her own research lab in the McCaig Institute, her work focuses on understanding the bone changes that occur in arthritis. “There are a lot of interesting questions about arthritis that are still unanswered,” says Manske. “I am very curiosity driven. I really like being able to ask a question and then find a creative way to answer it.”

For one of her projects, she’ll use an animal model to study the development of knee osteoarthritis. “There is a lot of information that looks at the end stages of osteoarthritis, but we need to come up with better tools to measure disease progression and treatment outcomes,” says Manske. “That way, if and when someone develops a treatment that might be effective, we can measure it appropriately.”

Manske will also be working on developing better imaging for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). “It’s a disease where the bone changes very rapidly, so it’s very interesting,” she says. She’ll be imaging research participants with RA to measure how their bones are affected by various medications. “Every patient responds differently to different medications. I want to see if we can measure the bone changes that occur so we can help doctors target the best treatment.”