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ACR CRI National Clinical Imaging Research Registry™ (ANCIRR)

Enabling researchers to address complex scientific questions and produce results.

Building a Stronger Foundation for Advancements in Patient Care

The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) Center for Research and Innovation (CRI), in partnership with ACR Informatics, is pioneering a powerful suite of research registries known as ACR National Clinical Imaging Research Registry™ (ANCIRR). These registries gather and curate comprehensive image and clinical data from a variety of practice settings, generating robust datasets that empower researchers to address complex scientific questions. With a focus on ensuring relevance across care settings, geographic regions and diverse populations, ANCIRR is setting a new standard for medical research.

Leveraging the latest in machine learning and artificial intelligence, this innovative approach taps into electronic health records to unlock the full potential of digital data. The impact? A stronger foundation for health equity efforts and advancements in patient care — leading to more personalized treatments and broader, more effective health solutions across populations.

For more information, review the ANCIRR frequently asked questions and learn more about the individual ANCIRR registry sites below.

The ACR is expanding its research registry site network. Become a data-contributing site to the ANCIRR.

Registries

ACT-RADS Research Registry™

The Actionable Imaging Findings registry — involving three large U.S. health systems — seeks to aid development of a global standardized follow-up recommendation system for actionable imaging findings (ACT-RADS™) in abdominopelvic and kidney ultrasound, CT and MRI exams.

Radiologists commonly encounter nonemergent actionable findings on diagnostic imaging exams. There is a need to consistently report clear follow-up recommendations across organs and modalities in radiology and to correlate standardized recommendations with health outcomes for diverse populations in an accelerated timeline.

Breast Imaging Research Registry

The Breast Imaging Research Registry (BIRR) aims to improve breast cancer screening and diagnosis through the aggregation and analysis of multiple data streams.

BIRR seeks to address AI priorities and create a consortium that can ask research questions and derive answers on its own, while being supplementary to the National Mammography Database.

Learn more
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the preferred treatment for patients with severe aortic stenosis and greater than low surgical risk and has been adopted at numerous centers. The wide-field of view of cardiothoracic CTA permits evaluation of the entirety of the cardiothoracic structures and may provide a variety of additional information valuable in determining risk to patients undergoing the procedure.

The primary goal of this project is to develop a collaborative multi-institutional biobank to collect pre-procedure CTA data and specific intraprocedural and outcome data that may be useful in predicting morbidity and mortality related to TAVR.

TI-RADS Research Registry™

The ACR Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System (TIRR) was developed with the aim of reducing unnecessary thyroid biopsies while capturing clinically significant malignancies. The TIRR is a multi-institutional research registry with the objective to compare TI-RADS to other thyroid ultrasound risk stratification systems.

Evidence-based validation of ACR TI-RADS is important given the ongoing movement towards value-based imaging and the existence of different thyroid biopsy guidelines from multiple other groups.

Learn more

COVID-19 Imaging Research Registry™

The COVID-19 Imaging Research Registry (CIRR) advances understanding, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. CIRR fosters integration and knowledge sharing across clinical medicine, genetics, biomarker discovery and laboratory sciences.

The ACR collects images and data performed as part of diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients. CIRR sites contribute demographic information, clinical data on signs and symptoms, imaging exams, laboratory test data and outcomes. Data is used for education, AI algorithm development and research studies.

A subset of the CIRR dataset is de-identified and made publicly available via the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center.

Radiologists and practices can fully meet Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) “Improvement Activity” requirements by contributing data and images to CIRR. Sites have access to their data and can request data for other COVID-19 research, subject to IRB approval and CIRR Steering Committee oversight.


CIRR is a cooperative effort of the ACR Center for Research and Innovation™ and the ACR Data Science Institute®.


Become a data-contributing site to the CIRR. Complete the participation form and a member of the ACR CRI team will follow up with you.

CIRR Data Collection

Data Grouping Data Elements being collected in Grouping Frequency of Collection Collection Type
Manual Key-in, Auto Pull/Bulk Load, or Both
Demography Basic demographics of the patient, including other COVID-19 project IDs Once per patient Both
Prior Medication History Collection of 10 specific medications taken within 2 weeks of COVID-19 test used for inclusion
 Once per patient Both
Medications Collection of all medications given to patient over time Multiple collection timepoints per patient Auto Pull/Bulk Load
Prior Medical History Collection of specific medical history for a patient Once per patient Both
Cardiovascular Disease Detailed cardiovascular disease history Once per patient Both
Pulmonary Disease Detailed pulmonary disease history Once per patient Both
Neurological Disease Detailed neurological disease history, including stroke Once per patient Both
Liver Disease Detailed liver disease history Once per patient Both
Substance Abuse Detailed substance abuse history Once per patient Both
Other Medical History Other medical history deemed important by the site Once per patient Both
Socioeconomic History Education and Income information Once per patient Both
Insurance Status Insurance information Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Smoking Tobacco and Vaping information Once per patient Both
Exposure Risk COVID-19 exposure risk assessment Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Symptoms Symptoms associated with COVID-19 Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Vitals Basic vitals taken for the patient Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Labs Labs taken for the patient, including values Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
COVID Treatment Treatment given for COVID-19 infection and related symptoms Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Hospital Admission and Discharge Admission, stay, and discharge details for the patient Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Microbial Data Respiratory panel and microbial data for the patient Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
Imaging Imaging performed for the patient Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
COVID 19 Testing COVID-19 Test and Results performed on the patient Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both
COVID Recovery Date patient considered recovered from COVID Once per patient Both
COVID Long Term Effects All effects the paitent experiences post hospital discharge and/or recovery date Multiple collection timepoints per patient Both

Frequently Asked QuestionsAbout ANCIRR

 ACR research and informatics capabilities empower a new generation of research that can produce standards of care for the broader population and in specific groups. These capabilities have been honed through smaller projects — including the COVID-19 Imaging Research Registry™ (CIRR), a primary image provider and sole patient data supplier to the NIH-funded Medical Imaging Data Research Center (MIDRC). MIDRC is co-founded by the ACR, Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). MIDRC is operated by the University of Chicago.

ANCIRR is spearheaded by the ACR CRI, led by ACR Chief Research Officer Etta Pisano, MD, ACR Research Commission Chair Christopher Comstock, MD and ACR Executive Vice President Charlie Apgar; as well as ACR Informatics, overseen by ACR Informatics Commission Chair Christoph Wald, MD, and ACR Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President Mike Tilkin.

The National Radiology Data Registry (NRDR®) is a radiology clinical quality improvement registry. NRDR receives anonymized data from sites collected during course of care and provides comparative feedback to support patient care quality and safety improvements. NRDR disseminates information on practice changes evidenced by NRDR data through health services research published in high-quality scientific venues.

ANCIRR empowers researchers to produce results that can establish new standards of clinical care. ANCIRR collects both images and clinical data from multiple practices, curates those data streams, and then creates large datasets that can be used to validate AI algorithms and fuel complex scientific research to produce results applicable across care settings, locations and populations.

ANCIRR is the program name for a portfolio of research registries. Four of the 14 ANCIRR registries focus on COVID-19 while the others address a variety of indications. Some ANCIRR registries will collect imaging and anonymized patient data. Some will solely collect imaging cases.

The ACR, RSNA and AAPM co-founded MIDRC, which is operated by the University of Chicago.

The ACR CRI is the imaging coordinator for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute multicenter COVID-19 Observational Study (CORAL) registry, which will link images with clinical data.

The ACR CRI is the imaging repository for the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Discovery Viral Infection and Respiratory Illness Universal Study (VIRUS) COVID-19 Registry.

Participating sites can securely transmit medical images and anonymized patient health information to ANCIRR registries using ACR Informatics platforms, including TRIAD and ACR Connect. ANCIRR personnel can walk interested sites through the process to ensure that the onboarding process is as seamless as possible.

Email ancirr@acr.org and a team member will support you.

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