Exploration of Ultrasound-Activated Bubbles as a Switchable MRI Contrast Agent

超声激活气泡作为可切换 MRI 造影剂的探索

• 批准号: 10042061
• 负责人: Nicole Seiberlich
• 金额: $ 25.04万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2022-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10042061
• 关键词: Abdomen; Affect; Algorithms; Anatomy; Bar Codes; Cancer Detection; Cancerous; Cells; Contrast Media; Country; Data; Data Collection; Dependence; Detection; Development; Diagnosis; Disease; Equipment; Fingerprint; Formulation; Frequencies; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Gases; Goals; Image; Imaging technology; In Vitro; Lead; Lesion; Liver; Location; MRI Scans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Malignant Neoplasms; Methods; Modality; Modeling; Monitor; Nature; Neoplasm Metastasis; Organ; Patients; Pattern; Penetration; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Physicians; Physiologic pulse; Predisposition; Preparation; Protocols documentation; Research; Resolution; Scheme; Signal Transduction; Speed; Structure; Technology; Testing; Therapeutic; Therapeutic Agents; Time; Tissues; Transducers; Ultrasonic Therapy; Ultrasonography; Work; anatomic imaging; base; cancer therapy; clinical practice; clinically translatable; contrast enhanced; design; experience; high reward; image reconstruction; imaging approach; in vivo; innovation; interest; magnetic field; molecular imaging; multidisciplinary; nanobubble; neoplastic cell; novel; signal processing; soft tissue; tool; tumor

Micro- and nanobubbles have been used in ultrasound imaging to highlight diseased tissue, specifically tumors, to aid physicians in detecting disease. These bubbles can also be filled with therapeutic drugs, and popped using ultrasound energy when they are at the desired location. While these bubble-based contrast agents make tumors easier to see on ultrasound images, it can still be challenging to recognize anatomical structures in ultrasound images due to the relatively poor soft tissue contrast of this modality. Ultrasound imaging is also limited in penetration depth at the higher frequencies needed for imaging, which can make some applications including body imaging challenging. On the other hand, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is able to image large organs such as the liver with exquisite contrast and complete coverage. The drawback of MRI is that its low sensitivity makes the detection of small cancerous lesions challenging, and treatment of the tumor cannot be initiated non-invasively with MRI. The goal of this project is to explore the use of ultrasound-activated nanobubbles as a switchable MRI contrast agent to enable the rapid and effective detection and treatment of metastatic disease. Here, the effect of the presence of micro- and/or nanobubbles, both with and without the application of ultrasound energy, on the MRI signal will be tested. We hypothesize that the mere presence of small bubbles will have little impact on the MRI signal, but that the MRI signal can be dramatically altered on a rapid timescale by applying ultrasound energy to the bubbles. The formulation of the bubbles will be revisited to maximize their ability to alter the surrounding magnetic field and thus affect the MRI signal, and various forms of MRI data collection will be tested to enable rapid localization of the bubbles. Note that the switchable nature of this contrast agent, which is truly unique in MRI, will have a profound impact on how the MRI data can be collected, opening the door for innovative strategies for acquiring data and generating images. This exploratory project will pave the way for testing of this novel switchable MRI contrast agent in vivo for robust detection and efficient treatment of small metastatic tumors. Note that the team includes an expert on nanobubble design for ultrasound contrast agents, an MRI physicist renowned for developing innovative data collection and image reconstruction methods, and a second MRI physicist who has both the experience in combined MRI/ultrasound and access to the tools needed to perform this work.

微米和纳米气泡已用于超声成像以突出病变组织，特别是 肿瘤，帮助医生发现疾病。这些气泡还可以填充治疗药物，并且 当它们到达所需位置时，使用超声波能量弹出。虽然这些基于气泡的对比 药物使肿瘤在超声图像上更容易看到，但识别解剖结构仍然具有挑战性 由于这种方式的软组织对比度相对较差，因此超声图像中的结构会受到影响。超声波 在成像所需的较高频率下，成像的穿透深度也受到限制，这可以使 一些应用（包括身体成像）具有挑战性。另一方面，磁共振成像（MRI） 能够以细腻的对比度和完整的覆盖范围对肝脏等大型器官进行成像。缺点是 MRI 的缺点是其低灵敏度使得微小癌性病变的检测具有挑战性，并且对癌症的治疗 MRI 无法无创地启动肿瘤。 该项目的目标是探索超声激活纳米气泡作为可切换 MRI 对比的用途 剂能够快速有效地检测和治疗转移性疾病。在这里，效果 MRI 上是否存在微米和/或纳米气泡，无论是否应用超声能量 将测试信号。我们假设仅仅存在小气泡对 MRI 的影响很小 信号，但通过施加超声能量，MRI 信号可以在快速时间尺度上发生显着改变 到气泡。将重新审视气泡的配方，以最大限度地提高其改变周围环境的能力 磁场从而影响 MRI 信号，并且将测试各种形式的 MRI 数据收集，以实现 气泡的快速定位。请注意，这种造影剂的可切换性质，在 MRI 将对 MRI 数据的收集方式产生深远影响，为创新打开大门 获取数据和生成图像的策略。这个探索性项目将为测试铺平道路 这种新型可切换体内 MRI 造影剂可对微小转移灶进行稳健检测和有效治疗 肿瘤。请注意，该团队包括一位超声造影剂、MRI 纳米气泡设计专家 以开发创新数据收集和图像重建方法而闻名的物理学家，以及第二位 MRI 物理学家，既拥有 MRI/超声组合的经验，又能够使用所需的工具 执行这项工作。