SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMAGING CHANGES IN TISSUE

• US 20090234237A1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Published: 09/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Michigan (University of Michigan)
• Original Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Michigan (University of Michigan)
• Inventors: Chenevert, Thomas, Galban, Craig J., Meyer, Charles R., Ross, Brian D., Rehemtulla, Alnawaz
• Granted Patent: US 9,289,140 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/504
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/026 Measuring blood flow A61B3/1233, A61B3/1241 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0263 using NMR
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/416 the spleen
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4848 Monitoring or testing the effects of treatment, e.g. of medication
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7271 Specific aspects of physiological measurement analysis A61B5/316, A61B5/349 and A61B5/374 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/501 for diagnosis of the head, e.g. neuroimaging or craniography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/507 for determination of haemodynamic parameters, e.g. perfusion CT
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/10 Complex mathematical operations function generation by table look-up G06F1/03; evaluation of elementary functions by calculation G06F7/544
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/11 for solving equations , e.g. nonlinear equations, general mathematical optimization problems optimization specially adapted for a specific administrative, business or logistic context G06Q10/04
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 40/00 ICT specially adapted for biostatistics; ICT specially adapted for bioinformatics-related machine learning or data mining, e.g. knowledge discovery or pattern finding
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 5/00 ICT specially adapted for modelling or simulations in systems biology, e.g. gene-regulatory networks, protein interaction networks or metabolic networks

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for monitoring tissue regions. In particular, the present invention provides systems and methods for detecting changes in tissue regions over a period of time. In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present invention are used to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular treatment of a tissue region. In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present invention provide a parametric response map approach for detecting and analyzing changes in tissue regions over a period of time to detect and monitor disease or tissue health and to monitor the impact of therapeutic interventions.

Claims

1. A method for detecting changes in a tissue region comprising:

a) obtaining a first set of parametric measurement data for a tissue region with an imaging device;

b) obtaining one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data for said tissue region with said imaging device;

c) processing said sets of parametric measurement data with a parametric response map algorithm such that a parametric response map for said tissue region is generated, wherein said parametric response map characterizes spatially aligned tissue regions as having altered parametric measurement properties or unaltered parametric measurement properties; and

e) detecting a change in said tissue region based on said parametric response map.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said changes in said tissue are cause by medical intervention provided to a subject between said obtaining said first set of data and said obtaining one or more subsequent sets of data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said medical intervention comprises a treatment selected from the group consisting of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, cryotherapy, hyperthermia, proton beam therapy, ablation therapy, coagulation therapy, ultrasound therapy, antivascular therapy, and antiangiogenic therapy.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said parametric measurement data comprise absolute and/or relative blood volume data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said parametric measurement data comprise measures of vascular permeability data selected from the group consisting of K^Trans, AUC, and leakage space.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said parametric measurement data is selected from the group consisting of extravascular leakage space data, blood flow data, mean transit time data, and time to peak data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said tissue region is selected from the group consisting of a malignant tumor, a benign tumor, an abnormal growth, an inflamed region, a cancerous region, an infected region, a diseased region, an organ rejection, and one or more organs selected from the group consisting of lung, prostate, breast, colon, rectum, bladder, ovaries, skin, liver, spine, bone, pancreas, cervix, lymph, thyroid, adrenal gland, salivary gland, sebaceous gland, testis, thymus gland, penis, uterus, trachea, heart, and spleen.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said parametric response map displays changes in parametric measurement properties as gradient changes.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said gradient changes are color changes.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said tissue region is within a living human being.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said processing with said parametric response map algorithm occurs automatically after said obtaining of subsequent sets of parametric measurement data.

17. A device comprising a processor configured to process the sets of parametric measurement data with said parametric response map algorithm to generate said parametric response map of claim 1.

18. The device of claim 17, comprising software that comprises said parametric response map algorithm.

19. A system comprising the device of claim 17.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising said imaging device.

12. A method for optimizing a therapeutic intervention, comprising:

a) selecting a treatment designed to target a tissue region within an individual;

b) obtaining a first set of parametric measurement data for said tissue region with an imaging device;

c) administering said treatment to said individual;

d) obtaining one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data for said tissue region with said imaging device;

e) processing said sets of parametric measurement data with an parametric response map algorithm such that a parametric response map for said tissue region is generated, wherein said parametric response map characterizes said tissue region as having altered or unaltered parametric measurement properties; and

f) selecting an ongoing therapeutic intervention for said individual based on said parametric response map.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said selecting an ongoing therapeutic intervention comprises discontinuing said selected treatment.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein said parametric measurement data comprise absolute and/or relative cerebral blood volume data.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein said parametric measurement data comprise vascular permeability data.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein said parametric measurement data comprise extravascular leakage space data.