Radiology

The Department of Radiology at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University was founded in 1914 and traces its origins to Essentials of Optics, compiled by Professor He Shi of Tengchow College and Cheeloo University. It is one of the birthplaces of the “light” of modern Chinese medicine. Over more than a century, alongside the growth of East Qilu and the efforts of generations of radiologists, it has become a large comprehensive imaging department integrating clinical care, teaching, research and translation.

Its distinguished radiologists include Professors J. S. Ellis, L. M. Knox, Theodore C. Greene, Liu Guoxiang, Zhang Zunying, Hua Boxun, Tao Musheng, Li Chuanfu, Ma Xiangxing and Wang Qing. Under their leadership, the department has made significant progress in personnel training, equipment, care, teaching and research.

In 2005 the department was among the first in Shandong to establish a Taishan Scholar post; in 2007 it became a Shandong key discipline under the 11th Five-Year Plan and in 2009 a key discipline of the third phase of Shandong University's Project 985. It is currently a Shandong key discipline, provincial key clinical specialty and key medical and health discipline, authorized to award master's and doctoral degrees and train postdoctoral researchers. It was among the first national residency training bases and first advanced interventional training bases in medical imaging of the National Health Commission's Capacity Building and Continuing Education Center. The Department of Imaging and Nuclear Medicine of Shandong University's Cheeloo College of Medicine and the Imaging and Nuclear Medicine Teaching and Research Section of its First Clinical College are located here. Research platforms include the Shandong University Qilu Institute of Imaging Medicine and the Translational Medicine Research Center for Nanomolecular and Functional Imaging. The department develops strengths in nanomolecular imaging, medicine–engineering integration, zero-magnetic-field medicine, artificial intelligence, abdominopelvic disease and neuroimaging.

Several professors serve as members of the Chinese Society of Radiology, standing members of the radiologists' branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, vice-chair of the medical imaging engineering and technology society of the Chinese Society of Biotechnology, vice-chair of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine, chairs and vice-chairs of Shandong radiology and Shandong integrated medicine imaging branches, vice-chair of the Shandong Medical Imaging Research Society, and vice-chairs of the Shandong radiological intervention and radiological technology committees; they also serve as deputy editors and editorial board members of major domestic core journals.

The department is divided between the central Jinan campus and Qingdao campus, working together to advance Qilu medical imaging. The central Jinan campus has 178 medical and nursing staff, including three doctoral and 12 master's supervisors, nine chief physicians, one senior engineer, 12 associate chief physicians, two associate chief technicians and two associate chief nurses. Thirty-three hold doctorates and 15 master's degrees. It has one Qilu health leader, one Qilu young health talent and one Young Taishan scholar. Equipment is worth more than RMB 300 million, one third of the hospital's fixed equipment assets, including 13 high-end CT scanners, 11 high-end MRI scanners, five large flat-panel angiography systems and more than 40 other imaging units. Animal coils and research post-processing platforms and software support research and teaching.

Diagnostic and treatment strengths are divided into general X-ray, CT, MRI and interventional diagnosis and treatment. An expert imaging clinic for difficult cases is offered. Routine examinations include coronary CTA, whole-body CTA and CTV, CT virtual endoscopy, CT and MR perfusion, spectral CT, functional brain MRI including diffusion, perfusion, diffusion tensor imaging, brain tractography and spectroscopy, cardiac MRI, cardiac function analysis and blood-flow velocity analysis.

Treatment includes: 1. DSA intervention: embolization and recanalization, drainage, stent placement and balloon dilation for major vessels and hollow-organ disease; transcatheter chemoembolization for malignant tumors such as liver, gynecologic and lung cancers; emergency hemostasis for hemoptysis, gastrointestinal bleeding and massive traumatic hemorrhage; preoperative embolization when substantial surgical blood loss is expected; and assistance in diagnosing diseases such as islet cell tumors. 2. CT intervention: radiofrequency and microwave ablation of primary or metastatic lung, liver and kidney tumors, especially for recurrence after radiotherapy or chemotherapy resistance; percutaneous biopsy of small lung nodules and difficult or high-risk lesions; catheter drainage of the pericardial, pleural, abdominal and pelvic cavities, especially for critical conditions such as mediastinal fistula and acute necrotizing pancreatitis; nephrostomy; biliary and gallbladder drainage; bone tumor ablation with cementoplasty; localization of small lung nodules; and percutaneous sclerosis of liver and kidney cysts. Biopsy and ablation of high-risk thoracic sites with artificial pneumothorax assistance are nationally leading.

In research and teaching, the department has recently undertaken more than 50 projects including National Natural Science Foundation grants, subprojects of major Ministry of Industry and Information Technology programs, Shandong Natural Science Foundation and Shandong science and technology development projects, with cumulative research funding of RMB 14.5 million in three years. It has received provincial science and technology progress awards multiple times, published more than 300 articles in the past five years, has over RMB 20 million in ongoing research funding and more than 100 postgraduate students conducting research. Staff participate in RSNA, ECR and ISMRM meetings, maintain long-term cooperation with overseas institutions and regularly send doctors abroad for exchange and training; the great majority of young and middle-aged doctors have studied or trained overseas. The department teaches undergraduates, eight-year program students, international and postgraduate students of Shandong University's First Clinical College, develops MOOCs and high-quality imaging courses, and has received awards including national outstanding residency instructors and Shandong University outstanding clinical teachers. It established the Qilu Hospital Medical Imaging Specialty Alliance and the Qilu Medical Imaging WeChat public account.