Kathryn R. Nightingale

Kathryn Radabaugh Nightingaleis an American biomedical engineer in the field of medical ultrasound. She is the James L. and Elizabeth M. Vincent Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Nightingale is also a Member of the Duke Cancer Institute and Bass Fellow in the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering.

Nightingale graduated Magna Cum Laude with her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering in 1989.In 1997, she obtained a Doctorate of Philosophy in biomedical engineering from the Duke University Graduate School of Arts at Sciences. Nightingale's thesis was entitled Ultrasonic Generation and Detection of Acoustic Streaming to Differentiate between Fluid-Filled and Solid Lesions in the Breast.

College athletics

As a freshman, Nightingale was a member of the 1985-86 Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team, and made the Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll for that year.

Research interests

Nightingale's early work focused on acoustic streaming to differentiate fluid filled cysts and solid masses in the breast, which was the precursor to acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging when it was determined that acoustic radiation force could induce displacements in soft tissue.

Nightingale's research interests center around ultrasound and elasticity imaging. She is specifically interested in acoustic streaming, acoustic radiation force, and nonlinear acoustics, especially for tissue characterization. She uses finite element modeling as well as phantom and clinical experiments to investigate these phenomena. Nightingale's clinical imaging interests include abdominal and prostate imaging.

Teaching

• BME 354L: Introduction to Medical Instrumentation
• BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
• BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
• BME 790L: Advanced Topics with the Lab for Graduate Students in Biomedical Engineering

Professional societies

Nightingale is a member of many professional and academic societies.

• American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Fellow
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, senior member
• American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering Society
• American Society for Engineering Education

Professional committees

Nightingale has sat and sits on several professional committees.

• IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging Steering Committee, 1999-2001
• IEEE Biotechnology Council, 2005-2007
• IEEE UFFC International Ultrasonics Symposium Technical Program Committee, 1998–present
• SPIE Medical Imaging Symposium Technical Program Committee, 2004-2006
• AIUM Annual Convention technical review committee, 2011-2015
• AIUM Chair of Subcommittee on Transiently Increased Output for Ultrasonic Imaging 2012-2017
• AIUM Technical Standards Committee, 2013-2017
• AIUM Basic Science and Instrumentation Community, 2013–present
• WFUMB Consensus Report on Elasticity Imaging, Faculty expert 2013-2015
• RSNA/QIBA Ultrasonic Shearwave Speed Technical Committee 2012–present

Conference and review panels

Nightingale has sat on several grant review panels and has chaired several conference sessions .

• NIH BMIT-B Study Section Charter Member 2015–present
• NIH MEDI-A and CMIP Study Section (Ad-hoc member), 2004-2014
• NIH RNM Study Section (Ad-hoc member), 2003
• NIH Ad-hoc Ultrasound Study Section, 1999-2002
• Department of Defense, Breast Cancer Research Program, 1998
• Department of Defense, Prostate Cancer Research Training Program, 2010
• Chair, Sessions of IEEE UFFC Ultrasonics Symposium, 2000–2007, 2009-2018
• Chair, Sessions of BMES Annual Meeting, 2001, 2010
• Chair, Sessions of AIUM, 2011, 2013, 2015 - 2018

Awards

• Lois and John L. Imhoff Distinguished Teaching Award, Pratt School of Engineering, 2018
• Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, 2016
• Capers and Marion McDonald Teaching and Research Award, Pratt School of Engineering, 2015
• Klein Family Distinguished Teaching Award, Pratt School of Engineering, 2007

Patents

• Method and Apparatus for Delivery of Agents across the Blood Brain Barrier, in review, 2008. (Application No. 12/588,667)
• Ultrasound methods, systems, and computer program products for imaging fluids, in review, 2009. (Application No. 12/407,979)
• Ultrasound methods, systems and computer program products for imaging fluids using acoustic radiation force, in review, 2011. (Application No. 13/312,278)
• Methods, Systems and Computer Program Products for Estimating Shear Wave Speed Using Statistical Inference, (Application No. 14/801,007)
• Methods, systems and computer program products for constructive shear wave ultrasound imaging, in review, 2018 (Application No. 16/076,379)
• Adaptive Tracking Focal Configuration for Tissue Deformation Estimation, IDF submitted August, 2014, patent application in preparation, 2015.
• Systems and Methods for Determining Viscoelastic Properties in Soft Tissue Using Ultrasound (Provisional Application No. 62/404,793; Full Application filed October 2017).