IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering

A significant challenge for noninvasive MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment is assessing the viability of treated tissue during and immediately after MRgFUS procedures. Current clinical assessment uses contrast agents that prevent continuing MRgFUS treatment if tumor coverage is inadequate. This work presents a novel, noncontrast, learned multiparametric MR biomarker that can be used during treatment for iterative assessment with inhibiting treatment continuation. Trained using a novel volume-conserving registration algorithm, the presented noncontrast biomarker outperformed the current clinical standard on a VX2 rabbit tumor model. Details on the registration and deep learning model are included... Read more

Breast cancer remains one of the most common cancers among women. The development of novel technology for minimally-invasive treatments will provide important new treatment options for many breast cancer patients. This work presents a breast-specific magnetic resonance (MR) guided focused ultrasound system for the treatment of localized breast tumors. The unique design of the system allows for high quality MR images for treatment planning and assessment, target accuracy determination with volumetric magnetic resonance-acoustic radiation force imaging, and real time treatment monitoring with magnetic resonance thermometry. Technical specification for the system are provided as well as preliminary results from a first-in-human clinical trial... Read more