The SPECTRA Collaboration
THE STUDY GROUP FOR X-TREME COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Our Locations
Australia
The University of Melbourne
Belgium
Hasselt University
Brazil
University of São Paulo
Canada
University of Calgary
University of Saskatchewan
University Health Network
China
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Denmark
Aarhus University
France
University Hospital of Saint-Etienne
University of Lyon
University of Orléans
Germany
University Medical Center Freiburg
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Japan
Nagasaki University
The Netherlands
Eindhoven University of Technology
Maastricht University Medical Centre
Switzerland
Scanco Medical AG
Schulthess Klinik
United States
Cleveland Clinic
University of California San Francisco
University of Michigan
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Learn More
The Study grouP for x-trEme Computed Tomography in Rheumatoid Arthritis (SPECTRA) was formed in 2011 by Dr. Cheryl Barnabe to facilitate world-wide collaboration in developing advanced imaging tools to better understand and treat arthritis.
Since its inception, the collaboration has published guidelines for standard image acquisition, and reached consensus on defining bone erosions as well as measuring joint space. The collaboration now has grown to include members from five continents, and is an interdisciplinary team, including rheumatologists, immunologists, radiologists, biomedical engineers, and physicists.
Our goal is to expand the use of HR-pQCT as an imaging biomarker for rheumatic diseases affecting the small joints of the hands and feet. Since the original meeting, SPECTRA has hosted regular study groups at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Meetings since 2013, and was twice (2016 and 2018) selected as a Special Interest Group for the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) consensus conference aimed at improving outcome measures in rheumatology.
SPECTRA has also been invited to present regularly at the XtremeCT User Meeting held in conjunction with the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting. Including the original Calgary meeting, SPECTRA has held stand-alone meetings 5 times.