TY - JOUR T1 - COPD Biomarkers and Phenotypes: Opportunities for Better Outcomes with Precision Imaging JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.01570-2018 SP - 1801570 AU - George R. Washko AU - Grace Parraga Y1 - 2018/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2018/09/27/13993003.01570-2018.abstract N2 - A number of chronic diseases have benefited from both imaging and personalised medicine, but unfortunately, for patients with COPD, there has been little clinical uptake or recognition of the key advances in thoracic imaging that might help detect disease early or perhaps, more importantly, help develop and phenotype patients for novel or personalised therapies that may halt disease progression. We outline our vision for how CT and MRI may be used to better inform COPD patient care, and perhaps more importantly, how these may be used to help develop new therapies directed at early disease. We think that imaging and precision medicine should be considered and used together as “precision imaging” at specific stages of COPD when the major pathologies may be more responsive to therapy. Whilst “precision medicine” is the tailoring of medical treatment to individual patients, we define “precision imaging” as the tailoring of specific therapies and interventions to individual patients with a detailed quantitative understanding of their specific imaging phenotypes and measurements. Finally, we stress the importance of “seeing” the pathology, because without this understanding, you cannot treat, nor cure patients with COPD.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Dr. Washko has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Parraga has nothing to disclose. ER -