Photomagnetic Imaging: A Novel Modality for Cancer Imaging

描述（由申请人提供）：光磁成像：一种用于癌症成像的新模式在过去的几十年中，已经开发了各种体内成像模式，使用广泛的技术来获得关于所研究组织的结构、功能和分子信息。作为这些模式之一，光学成像可以提供功能信息，如血红蛋白浓度，也可视化外源性造影剂以及分子和功能标记。不幸的是，由于生物组织的高度散射性质，光学成像具有低分辨率。虽然，有新出现的方式，如光声层析成像，可以提供更高的分辨率图像，定量精度的恢复参数仍然是一个主要问题。所有这些可用的光学成像技术的一个共同缺点是，它们只能从介质的边界获取数据。为了克服这一限制，我在本提案中的主要目标是开发一种全新的方法，即“光磁成像”，该方法仍然使用激光来加热所研究的介质，但使用MRI来获得高分辨率的组织温度图。使用组织中光传播和热传递的适当建模，将MR温度图进一步转换为光学吸收图。我的假设是，光磁成像技术将提供定量更准确和更高分辨率的图像，由于采集的数据从整个介质的调查，改善欠定条件的反问题。该培训计划是针对使用小动物的这种新型成像方式的第一次体内可行性研究。如果成功，结果将是一个新的成像模式的开始。由于临床MR扫描仪的使用，该技术将具有立即临床转化的潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Photomagnetic Imaging: A Novel Modality for Cancer Imaging In the last decades, variety of in vivo imaging modalities have been developed using a broad spectrum of technologies to obtain structural, functional, and molecular information about the tissue under investigation. As one of these modalities, optical imaging can provide functional information such as hemoglobin concentration and also visualize exogenous contrast agents as well as molecular and functional markers. Unfortunately, optical imaging suffers from low resolution due to highly scattering nature of the biological tissue. Although, there are new emerging modalities like photo-acoustic tomography that can provide higher resolution images, quantitative accuracy of the recovered parameters still remains as one of the main issues. One common weakness of all these available optical imaging techniques is that they are capable of acquiring data only from the boundary of the medium. To overcome this limitation, my main goal in this proposal is to develop an entirely new approach, "Photo-magnetic imaging", which still uses laser light to heat the medium under investigation but employ MRI to obtain the temperature map of the tissue with high resolution. The MR temperature maps will further be converted into the optical absorption maps using proper modeling of light propagation and heat transfer in tissue. My hypothesis is that the photo-magnetic imaging technique will provide quantitatively more accurate and higher resolution images due to acquisition of data from the whole medium under investigation that improves the underdetermined condition of the inverse problem. This training proposal is geared toward the first in vivo feasibility studies of this nove imaging modality using small animals. If successful, the outcome will be the beginning of a new imaging modality. Due to the utilization of a clinical MR scanner, this technique will have immediate clinical translation potential.