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Biomedical Imaging Lab (Suga Lab)
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A lab that uses MRI and PET to turn the stiffness and function of the body into images.
AboutAbout the lab
Seeing both stiffness and function in images.
The Suga Lab aims to improve diagnostic and therapeutic technologies through research on image processing and the development of imaging devices.
Building on information engineering and imaging engineering, and collaborating with the fields of medicine and biology, the lab studies biomedical engineering and medical imaging engineering through both theory and experiment.
Currently the lab focuses mainly on MRI and PET, developing methods for imaging tissue stiffness and next-generation PET scanners.
The lab's motto is "Do interesting research, and have fun doing it! Just try it first."
Key terms
- Elastic modulus
- A quantity that expresses how stiff a material is. In biological tissue, it is known to change depending on the tissue's condition.
- MR Elastography
- A technique that uses MRI to capture how vibrations propagate through the body and turns tissue stiffness into an image.
- PET
- A technique in which a radioactive tracer is administered and the function of the body is imaged from the tracer's distribution inside the body.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies both how images are formed and the imaging devices themselves, targeting MRI and PET. Its work ranges from methods for imaging tissue stiffness to the design and performance evaluation of next-generation PET scanners.
*Illustrative imageImaging tissue stiffness with MRI
MR Elastography (MRE), which uses MRI, is a technique that can produce images of the elastic modulus (stiffness) inside the body. It is expected to be useful for distinguishing benign from malignant lesions, staging, surgical planning, and treatment evaluation. The lab is also developing a simple measurement method that uses the vibration of the patient table generated during MRI scanning.
*Illustrative imageComparing MRE and ultrasound elastography
Both MRE and ultrasound elastography (USE) can image differences in elastic modulus, but their measurement and analysis methods differ, and how much their results differ has not been sufficiently studied. The lab measures elastic gels of known elastic modulus with both techniques and compares the characteristics of each.
*Illustrative imageIntegrated PET/MRI scanners
In hybrid diagnostic scanners that combine PET and MRI, the attenuation map needed to reconstruct PET images is generated from MR images. The lab studies an algorithm that segments MR images into bone, soft tissue, water, and air and assigns an attenuation coefficient to each, as well as the shield box that covers the PET detectors.
*Illustrative imageDesign and performance evaluation of next-generation PET scanners
With OpenPET, a wide area can be imaged using fewer detectors. The open space can be used in combination with heavy-ion beam therapy to confirm the position of the tumor and the region that has been treated. The lab investigates the design and performance evaluation of such next-generation PET scanners through computer simulation.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Biomedical Imaging Lab are faculty, students in the doctoral program, master's program, and undergraduate program, and research students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorMikio Suga
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “An MRI scanner” Walter Davies / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Imaging tissue stiffness with MRI: “Magnetic Resonance Angiography” UCSF Health / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Comparing MRE and ultrasound elastography: “Liver Fibroscan Transient Elastography LSM CAP Navi Mumbai” Goleisureintl / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Integrated PET/MRI scanners: “PETMRI-scanner-Biograph-mMRI-3T-Siemens-Erlangen-Germany” Jeong Kyu Park, Sung Kyu Kim, Ihn Ho Cho, Eun Jung Kong / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Design and performance evaluation of next-generation PET scanners: “Taipei Veterans General Hospital Heavy Ion Therapy Center” Makoto Lin / Office of the President (中華民國總統府) / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Medical Bioelectromagnetics Lab (Saito Lab)): “Metallic lens antenna Bell Labs 1946” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamaguchi Lab): “Doppler Ultrasound and Vascular Sonography Examination in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India” Goleisureintl / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Micro-CT and Medical Imaging Engineering Lab): “X-ray Computed Tomography of Astromaterials -- jsc2024e076997” NASA Johnson Space Center / ROBERT MARKOWITZ NASA-JSC / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Nomura Lab): “US Navy 051128-N-2115M-047 Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Stephanie Regalado assigned to the David R. Ray Health Center's Radiology department looks over a x-ray” U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Shaun McWhinney / Public domain (cropped)
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