I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1795

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute

of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. BURR of North Carolina (for himself and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Institute of

5 Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Establishment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Basic research in imaging, bioengineering,

9 computer science, informatics, and related fields is

10 critical to improving health care but is fundamen-
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1 tally different from the research in molecular biology

2 on which the current national research institutes at

3 the National Institutes of Health (‘‘NIH’’) are

4 based. To ensure the development of new techniques

5 and technologies for the 21st century, these dis6 ciplines therefore require an identity and research

7 home at the NIH that is independent of the existing

8 institute structure.

9 (2) Advances based on medical research prom10 ise new, more effective treatments for a wide variety

11 of diseases, but the development of new, noninvasive

12 imaging techniques for earlier detection and diag13 nosis of disease is essential to take full advantage of

14 such new treatments and to promote the general im15 provement of health care.

16 (3) The development of advanced genetic and

17 molecular imaging techniques is necessary to con18 tinue the current rapid pace of discovery in molec19 ular biology.

20 (4) Advances in telemedicine, and teleradiology

21 in particular, are increasingly important in the deliv22 ery of high quality, reliable medical care to rural

23 citizens and other underserved populations. To fulfill

24 the promise of telemedicine and related technologies

25 fully, a structure is needed at the NIH to support
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1 basic research focused on the acquisition, trans2 mission, processing, and optimal display of images.

3 (5) A number of Federal departments and

4 agencies support imaging and engineering research

5 with potential medical applications, but a central co6 ordinating body, preferably housed at the NIH, is

7 needed to coordinate these disparate efforts and fa8 cilitate the transfer of technologies with medical ap9 plications.

10 (6) Several breakthrough imaging technologies,

11 including magnetic resonance imaging (‘‘MRI’’) and

12 computed tomography (‘‘CT’’), have been developed

13 primarily abroad, in large part because of the ab14 sence of a home at the NIH for basic research in

15 imaging and related fields. The establishment of a

16 central focus for imaging and bioengineering re17 search at the NIH would promote both scientific ad18 vance and U.S. economic development.

19 (7) At a time when a consensus exists to add

20 significant resources to the NIH in coming years, it

21 is appropriate to modernize the structure of the

22 NIH to ensure that research dollars are expended

23 more effectively and efficiently and that the fields of

24 medical science that have contributed the most to
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1 the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease in

2 recent years receive appropriate emphasis.

3 (8) The establishment of a National Institute of

4 Biomedical Imaging and Engineering at the NIH

5 would accelerate the development of new tech6 nologies with clinical and research applications, im7 prove coordination and efficiency at the NIH and

8 throughout the Federal government, reduce duplica9 tion and waste, lay the foundation for a new medical

10 information age, promote economic development, and

11 provide a structure to train the young researchers

12 who will make the pathbreaking discoveries of the

13 next century.

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIO15 MEDICAL IMAGING AND ENGINEERING.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title IV of the Public

17 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended

18 by adding at the end the following subpart:

19 ‘‘Subpart 18—National Institute of Biomedical Imaging

20 and Engineering

21 ‘‘PURPOSE OF THE INSTITUTE

22 ‘‘SEC. 464z. (a) The general purpose of the National

23 Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering (in this

24 section referred to as the ‘Institute’) is the conduct and

25 support of research, training, the dissemination of health
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1 information, and other programs with respect to bio2 medical imaging, biomedical engineering, and associated

3 technologies and modalities with biomedical applications

4 (in this section referred to as ‘biomedical imaging and en5 gineering’).

6 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Institute, with the advice

7 of the Institute’s advisory council, shall establish a Na8 tional Biomedical Imaging and Engineering Program (in

9 this section referred to as the ‘Program’).

10 ‘‘(2) Activities under the Program shall include the

11 following with respect to biomedical imaging and engineer12 ing:

13 ‘‘(A) Research into the development of new

14 techniques and devices.

15 ‘‘(B) Related research in physics, engineering,

16 mathematics, computer science, and other dis17 ciplines.

18 ‘‘(C) Technology assessments and outcomes

19 studies to evaluate the effectiveness of biologics, ma20 terials, processes, devices, procedures, and

21 informatics.

22 ‘‘(D) Research in screening for diseases and

23 disorders.
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1 ‘‘(E) The advancement of existing imaging and

2 engineering modalities, including imaging, biomate3 rials, and informatics.

4 ‘‘(F) The development of target-specific agents

5 to enhance images and to identify and delineate dis6 ease.

7 ‘‘(G) The development of advanced engineering

8 and imaging technologies and techniques for re9 search from the molecular and genetic to the whole

10 organ and body levels.

11 ‘‘(H) The development of new techniques and

12 devices for more effective interventional procedures

13 (such as image-guided interventions).

14 ‘‘(3)(A) With respect to the Program, the Director

15 of the Institute shall prepare and transmit to the Sec16 retary and the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand,

17 intensify, and coordinate activities of the Institute with re18 spect to biomedical imaging and engineering. The plan

19 shall include such comments and recommendations as the

20 Director of the Institute determines appropriate. The Di21 rector of the Institute shall periodically review and revise

22 the plan and shall transmit any revisions of the plan to

23 the Secretary and the Director of NIH.
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1 ‘‘(B) The plan under subparagraph (A) shall include

2 the recommendations of the Director of the Institute with

3 respect to the following:

4 ‘‘(i) Where appropriate, the consolidation of

5 programs of the National Institutes of Health for

6 the express purpose of enhancing support of activi7 ties regarding basic biomedical imaging and engi8 neering research.

9 ‘‘(ii) The coordination of the activities of the

10 Institute with related activities of the other agencies

11 of the National Institutes of Health and with related

12 activities of other Federal agencies.

13 ‘‘(c) The establishment under section 406 of an advi14 sory council for the Institute is subject to the following:

15 ‘‘(1) The number of members appointed by the

16 Secretary shall be 12.

17 ‘‘(2) Of such members—

18 ‘‘(A) 6 members shall be scientists, engi19 neers, physicians, and other health professionals

20 who represent disciplines in biomedical imaging

21 and engineering and who are not officers or em22 ployees of the United States; and

23 ‘‘(B) 6 members shall be scientists, engi24 neers, physicians, and other health professionals

25 who represent other disciplines and are knowl-
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1 edgeable about the applications of biomedical

2 imaging and engineering in medicine, and who

3 are not officers or employees of the United

4 States.

5 ‘‘(3) In addition to the ex officio members spec6 ified in section 406(b)(2), the ex officio members of

7 the advisory council shall include the Director of the

8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Di9 rector of the National Science Foundation, and the

10 Director of the National Institute of Standards and

11 Technology (or the designees of such officers).

12 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purpose of

13 carrying out this section:

14 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 2000, there is authorized

15 to be appropriated an amount equal to the amount

16 obligated by the National Institutes of Health dur17 ing fiscal year 1999 for biomedical imaging and en18 gineering, except that such amount shall be adjusted

19 to offset any inflation occurring after October 1,

20 1998.

21 ‘‘(B) For each of the fiscal years 2001 and

22 2002, there is authorized to be appropriated an

23 amount equal to the amount appropriated under

24 subparagraph (A) for fiscal year 2000, except that

25 such amount shall be adjusted for the fiscal year in-
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1 volved to offset any inflation occurring after October

2 1, 1999.

3 ‘‘(2) The authorization of appropriations for a fiscal

4 year under paragraph (1) is hereby reduced by the amount

5 of any appropriation made for such year for the conduct

6 or support by any other national research institute of any

7 program with respect to biomedical imaging and engineer8 ing.’’.

9 (b) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—In providing for

10 the establishment of the National Institute of Biomedical

11 Imaging and Engineering pursuant to the amendment

12 made by subsection (a), the Director of the National Insti13 tutes of Health (referred to in this subsection as

14 ‘‘NIH’’)—

15 (1) may transfer to the National Institute of

16 Biomedical Imaging and Engineering such personnel

17 of NIH as the Director determines to be appro18 priate;

19 (2) may, for quarters for such Institute, utilize

20 such facilities of NIH as the Director determines to

21 be appropriate; and

22 (3) may obtain administrative support for the

23 Institute from the other agencies of NIH, including

24 the other national research institutes.
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1 (c) CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES.—None of the

2 provisions of this Act or the amendments made by the Act

3 may be construed as authorizing the construction of facili4 ties, or the acquisition of land, for purposes of the estab5 lishment or operation of the National Institute of Bio6 medical Imaging and Engineering.

7 (d) DATE CERTAIN FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVI8 SORY COUNCIL.—Not later than 90 days after the effec9 tive date of this Act under section 4, the Secretary of

10 Health and Human Services shall complete the establish11 ment of an advisory council for the National Institute of

12 Biomedical Imaging and Engineering in accordance with

13 section 406 of the Public Health Service Act and in ac14 cordance with section 464z of such Act (as added by sub15 section (a) of this section).

16 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401(b)(1)

17 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(b)(1))

18 is amended by adding at the end the following subpara19 graph:

20 ‘‘(R) The National Institute of Biomedical Im21 aging and Engineering.’’.

22 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

23 This Act takes effect October 1, 1999, or upon the

24 date of the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.

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