CLEVELAND — A $3 million grant was awarded to Case Western Reserve University from the National Cancer Institute in an effort to improve MRI scan/software technology for analyzing and diagnosing brain tumors.
According to Case Western researchers, current software provides data that can lead to subjective analysis and inconsistent conclusions. The grant money will go to research in new technology that will reverse those trends.
“Our MR scan software analyzes images quantitatively and can be reproduced,” said Dan Ma, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. “To understand qualitative versus quantitative diagnosis, consider a baby with a fever. Qualitative is touching the baby’s forehead and feeling that it’s hot. Quantitative is using a thermometer for a specific temperature reading. Images from qualitative MRI scans are hard to interpret objectively, reproduce and can vary based on the type of scanners even in the same hospital."
The new technology developed from the grant will be marketed to healthcare providers worldwide, according to Case Western.
The new technology developed will aim to improve the data revealed from scans in which brain tumors are detected. Through the improved data, better treatment plans can be established and more accurate prediction of cancer spreading in glioblastoma patients can be mapped.
"This will eventually allow personalized treatment planning to improve patient outcomes,” added Chaitra Badve, a neuroradiologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and an associate professor of radiology at the School of Medicine.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common type of malignant (cancerous) brain tumor in adults. Cancer cells in GBM tumors rapidly multiply. The cancer can spread into other areas of the brain as well. Rarely, the cancer spreads outside the brain to other parts of the body.
“Infiltration of cancer beyond the tumor margins causes recurrence in nearly 100% of GBs,” Badve said. “However, this cannot be measured by current MR imaging techniques, due to poor sensitivity and poor reproducibility when shared for analysis. The availability of reliable and reproducible infiltration prediction maps will lead to multi-site clinical trials in personalized radiation therapy and neurosurgery for improved patient outcomes.”
The grant money is for research into the project over the next five years.
Editor's Note: The video above is from an unrelated story on heart health during cancer treatment.