Realtime 3D MRI Technologies for Therapy and Diagnosis

描述（由申请人提供）：癌症患者的生活质量和生存受到肝转移的极大威胁。虽然手术切除通常是不可能的，并且全身化疗基本上无效，但有前景的介入治疗技术是可用的。该项目的重点是展示实时时间分辨 3D MR 指导对此类技术的有效性：经导管动脉化疗栓塞 (TACE)。该项目的成功完成不仅可以立即改进 TACE 手术，而且应该被证明是其他药物输送技术的有力基础，其中融合局部脉管系统和解剖学的信息是有益的。目前 X 射线数字减影血管造影 (DSA) 的 TACE 指南提供了厚厚的 2D 投影图像，但有关肿瘤位置的信息很少，同时增加了肝肿瘤患者接受的本已很高的电离辐射剂量。虽然 MR 成像提供 3D 功能已有一段时间了，但要将实时 3D MRI 应用于新问题，还需要进一步提高采集速度、重建处理和可视化。 4D 成像产生的数据急剧增加带来了挑战。但机遇来自于 MRI 并行成像的快速发展、使用 MR 多重对比机制的新范式以及计算能力的持续显着提高。该项目旨在开发 4D MRI（三个空间维度加时间），以更好地可视化肿瘤附近脉管系统的结构和意义，并将其与 TACE 所需的其他介入成像方法相结合。具体来说，该项目的前两个具体目标集中在重建和可视化上：1）使用更快、更高效的非笛卡尔技术提高 MR 成像速度和覆盖范围，并将这些技术集成到实时重建平台中；2）使用计算机集群可视化 4D 数据。第三个目标将这些发展与 MR 引导所需的其他功能相结合，包括导管可视化和 3D T2 加权成像，以实现病变的显着性。最后一个目标是使用与验证临床 TACE 相同的方法来验证这些功能。成功完成将为支持后续人体试验提供必要的信息，并为指导 TACE 以及一般药物输送提供平台。前两个目标的成果还将缩短采集时间、提高图像质量并简化时间分辨诊断磁共振血管造影的解释。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The quality of life and survival for cancer patients are considerably threatened by liver metastases. While surgical resection is often not possible and systemic chemotherapy is largely ineffective, promising interventional therapeutic techniques are available. The focus of this project is to demonstrate the effectiveness of real-time time-resolved 3D MR guidance for one such technique: transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Successful completion of the project will not only allow immediate improvement of TACE procedure, but should prove to be a capable foundation for other drug delivery techniques where fusing information of local vasculature and anatomy is beneficial. Current guidance for TACE from X-ray Digital Subtraction Angiography( DSA) provides thick 2D projection images with little information on tumor location while increasing the already high dose of ionizing radiation received by liver tumor patients. While MR imaging has provided 3D capabilities for some time, further improvements in acquisition speed, reconstruction processing, and visualization are necessary to apply real-time 3D MRI to new problems. Challenges are derived from the extraordinary increase in data created by 4D imaging. But opportunities are derived from the rapid development of parallel imaging in MRI, new paradigms for using MR's multiple contrast mechanisms, and the continued dramatic improvement in computing power. This project aims to develop 4D MRI, three spatial dimensions plus time, to better visualize the structure and significance of the vasculature adjacent to tumors, and integrate it with the other interventional imaging methods necessary for TACE. Specifically, the first two specific aims of this project concentrate on reconstruction and visualization: 1) Improve MR imaging speed and coverage using faster, more efficient non-Cartesian techniques and integrating these into a real-time reconstruction platform and 2) visualizing of 4D data using a computer cluster. The third aim integrates these developments with other capabilities necessary for MR guidance including catheter visualization and 3D T2-weighted imaging for lesion conspicuity. The last aim verifies these capabilities using the same methods used to validate clinical TACE. Successful completion will provide the necessary information to support a later human trial and a platform for guiding TACE as well as drug delivery in general. Outcomes for the first two aims will also shorten acquisition time, improve image quality, and simplify interpretation of time-resolved diagnostic MR angiography.