METHOD FOR TRANSCATHETER INTRA-ARTERIAL PERFUSION MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
First Claim
1. A method for serially determining changes in perfusion to tissues, comprising the steps of:
- injecting contrast material into a catheter that is positioned in a blood vessel supplying a targeted tissue of interest;
acquiring a time series of images that depicts an uptake of the contrast material within the targeted tissue;
deriving semi-quantitative or quantitative perfusion metrics based upon the time series of images;
altering perfusion to the targeted tissue by injecting pharmacologic agents or embolic agents into the blood vessel supplying the targeted tissue;
acquiring a further time series of perfusion images to serially monitor changes in tissue perfusion after each altering perfusion step;
repeating said altering perfusion step and said acquiring further images step; and
calculating changes in perfusion metrics after said acquiring of the further series of perfusion images.
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Abstract
A method to serially determine changes in perfusion to tissues is provided. This method involves injecting contrast material into a catheter that is positioned in the blood supply proximal to the targeted tissue of interest, acquiring a time series of images that depicts the uptake of this contrast material within the tissue, deriving semi-quantitative or quantitative perfusion metrics based upon the time series of perfusion images, altering perfusion to the targeted tissue by means of injecting pharmacologic agents or embolic agents into the blood vessels supplying the targeted tissue, repeating the acquisition of perfusion images to serially monitor changes in tissue perfusion after each alteration, and calculating changes in perfusion metrics after each series of perfusion images. This method is used to monitor changes in perfusion to various tissues, including a diverse array of tumors. The perfusion imaging method can be acquired using magnetic resonance, x-ray computed tomography, or radionuclide imaging. The perfusion metric is serially measured during an embolization procedure as a means of measuring changes in tissue perfusion or to target an endpoint based upon a specific alteration in the calculated perfusion metric.
14 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for serially determining changes in perfusion to tissues, comprising the steps of:
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injecting contrast material into a catheter that is positioned in a blood vessel supplying a targeted tissue of interest; acquiring a time series of images that depicts an uptake of the contrast material within the targeted tissue; deriving semi-quantitative or quantitative perfusion metrics based upon the time series of images; altering perfusion to the targeted tissue by injecting pharmacologic agents or embolic agents into the blood vessel supplying the targeted tissue; acquiring a further time series of perfusion images to serially monitor changes in tissue perfusion after each altering perfusion step; repeating said altering perfusion step and said acquiring further images step; and calculating changes in perfusion metrics after said acquiring of the further series of perfusion images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for determining an embolic endpoint during an embolization procedure of a tumor, comprising the steps of:
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inserting a catheter into a blood vessel supplying the tumor using x-ray or magnetic resonance imaging guidance; imaging a region of the tumor using transcatheter intra-arterial perfusion magnetic resonance image acquisition to establish a baseline value, the contrast material being injected via the catheter; injecting an embolic agent via the catheter as a first embolization stage; imaging the region of the tumor using transcatheter intra-arterial perfusion magnetic resonance image acquisition in a post embolization imaging stage; determining at least one perfusion metric from the post embolization imaging stage; and performing further embolizing stages and further post embolization imaging stages until a serial reduction in perfusion is determined by said perfusion metric from the respective post embolization imaging stages. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method for determining an endpoint of an embolizing procedure of a tumor, comprising the steps of:
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inserting a catheter into a blood vessel supplying the tumor; performing a first transcatheter intra-arterial perfusion magnetic resonance image acquisition of a region of interest of the tumor; injecting an embolic agent into the blood vessel via the catheter in a first transcatheter arterial embolization stage; performing a second transcatheter intra-arterial perfusion magnetic resonance image data acquisition of the region of interest; determining a change in signal intensity of image data for the region of interest from the first image data acquisition and the second image data acquisition; injecting an embolic agent into the blood vessel via the catheter in a second transcatheter arterial embolization stage; performing a third transcatheter intra-arterial perfusion magnetic resonance image data acquisition of the region of interest; determining a change in signal intensity of image data for the region of interest from the second data image acquisition and the third image data acquisition; calculating a perfusion metric from the changes in signal intensity; and repeating the steps of injecting, performing, determining and calculating until the said perfusion metric reaches a threshold value, then halting the injection of the embolizing agent. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification