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The objective of the research presented here was to validate the use of kinetic models for the analysis of the dynamic behavior of a contrast agent in tumor tissue and evaluate the utility of such models in determining kinetic properties - in particular perfusion and molecular binding uptake associated with

The objective of the research presented here was to validate the use of kinetic models for the analysis of the dynamic behavior of a contrast agent in tumor tissue and evaluate the utility of such models in determining kinetic properties - in particular perfusion and molecular binding uptake associated with tissue hypoxia - of the imaged tissue, from concentration data acquired with dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) procedure. Data from two separate DCE-MRI experiments, performed in the past, using a standard contrast agent and a hypoxia-binding agent respectively, were analyzed. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the models used may provide novel characterization of the tumor tissue properties. Future research will work to further characterize the physical significance of the estimated parameters, particularly to provide quantitative oxygenation data for the imaged tissue.
ContributorsMartin, Jonathan Michael (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Rege, Kaushal (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-12
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Description
Oxygen delivery is crucial for the development of healthy, functional tissue. Low tissue oxygenation, or hypoxia, is a characteristic that is common in many tumors. Hypoxia contributes to tumor malignancy and can reduce the success of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. There is a current need to noninvasively measure tumor oxygenation

Oxygen delivery is crucial for the development of healthy, functional tissue. Low tissue oxygenation, or hypoxia, is a characteristic that is common in many tumors. Hypoxia contributes to tumor malignancy and can reduce the success of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. There is a current need to noninvasively measure tumor oxygenation or pO2 in patients to determine a personalized treatment method. This project focuses on creating and characterizing nanoemulsions using a pO2 reporter molecule hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and its longer chain variants as well as assessing their cytotoxicity. We also explored creating multi-modal (MRI/Fluorescence) nanoemulsions.
ContributorsGrucky, Marian Louise (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Rege, Kaushal (Committee member) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05
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Description
In epilepsy, malformations that cause seizures often require surgery. The purpose of this research is to join forces with the Multi-Center Epilepsy Lesion Detection (MELD) project at University College London (UCL) in order to improve the process of detecting lesions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. This, in turn, will improve

In epilepsy, malformations that cause seizures often require surgery. The purpose of this research is to join forces with the Multi-Center Epilepsy Lesion Detection (MELD) project at University College London (UCL) in order to improve the process of detecting lesions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. This, in turn, will improve surgical outcomes via more structured surgical planning. It is a global effort, with more than 20 sites across 5 continents. The targeted populations for this study include patients whose epilepsy stems from Focal Cortical Dysplasia. Focal Cortical Dysplasia is an abnormality of cortical development, and causes most of the drug-resistant epilepsy. Currently, the creators of MELD have developed a set of protocols which wrap various
commands designed to streamline post-processing of MRI images. Using this partnership, the Applied Neuroscience and Technology Lab at PCH has been able to complete production of a post-processing pipeline which integrates locally sourced smoothing techniques to help identify lesions in patients with evidence of Focal Cortical Dysplasia. The end result is a system in which a patient with epilepsy may experience more successful post-surgical results due to the
combination of a lesion detection mechanism and the radiologist using their trained eye in the presurgical stages. As one of the main points of this work is the global aspect of it, Barrett thesis funding was dedicated for a trip to London in order to network with other MELD project collaborators. This was a successful trip for the project as a whole in addition to this particular thesis. The ability to troubleshoot problems with one another in a room full of subject matter
experts allowed for a high level of discussion and learning. Future work includes implementing machine learning approaches which consider all morphometry parameters simultaneously.
ContributorsHumphreys, Zachary William (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Foldes, Stephen (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of changes in metabolic activity in tumors and metabolic abnormalities can provide a window to understanding the complex behavior of malignant tumors. Both diagnostics and treatment options can be improved through the further comprehension of the processes that contribute to tumor malignancy and growth. By detecting

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of changes in metabolic activity in tumors and metabolic abnormalities can provide a window to understanding the complex behavior of malignant tumors. Both diagnostics and treatment options can be improved through the further comprehension of the processes that contribute to tumor malignancy and growth. By detecting and disturbing this activity through personalized treatments, it is the hope to provide better diagnostics and care to patients. Experimenting with multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTS) allows for a rapid, inexpensive and convenient solution to studying multiple in vitro tumors. High quality magnetic resonance images of small samples, such as spheroid, however, are difficult to achieve with current radio frequency coils. In addition, in order for the information provided by these scans to accurately represent the interactions and metabolic activity in vivo, there is a need for a perfused vascular network. A perfused vascular network has the potential to improve metabolic realism and particle transport within a tumor spheroid. By creating a more life-like cancer model and allowing the progressive imaging of metabolic functions of such small samples, a better, more efficient mode of studying metabolic activity in cancer can be created and research efforts can expand. The progress described in this paper attempts to address both of these current shortcomings of metabolic cancer research and offers potential solutions, while acknowledging the potential of future work to improve cancer research with MCTS.
ContributorsTobey, John Paul (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Sadleir, Rosalind (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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Description
Compressed sensing magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) is a noninvasive and in vivo potential diagnostic technique for cancer imaging. This technique undersamples the distribution of specific cancer biomarkers within an MR image as well as changes in the temporal dimension and subsequently reconstructs the missing data. This technique has been

Compressed sensing magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) is a noninvasive and in vivo potential diagnostic technique for cancer imaging. This technique undersamples the distribution of specific cancer biomarkers within an MR image as well as changes in the temporal dimension and subsequently reconstructs the missing data. This technique has been shown to retain a high level of fidelity even with an acceleration factor of 5. Currently there exist several different scanner types that each have their separate analytical methods in MATLAB. A graphical user interface (GUI) was created to facilitate a single computing platform for these different scanner types in order to improve the ease and efficiency with which researchers and clinicians interact with this technique. A GUI was successfully created for both prospective and retrospective MRSI data analysis. This GUI retained the original high fidelity of the reconstruction technique and gave the user the ability to load data, load reference images, display intensity maps, display spectra mosaics, generate a mask, display the mask, display kspace and save the corresponding spectra, reconstruction, and mask files. Parallelization of the reconstruction algorithm was explored but implementation was ultimately unsuccessful. Future work could consist of integrating this parallelization method, adding intensity overlay functionality and improving aesthetics.
ContributorsLammers, Luke Michael (Author) / Kodibagkar, Vikram (Thesis director) / Hu, Harry (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05