Molecular Imaging for IMRI-Guided Minimally Invasive Treatment of Prostate Cancer

摘要

Our long-range goal is to develop an image-guided, minimally invasive thermal ablation treatment method for the prostate cancer. Before this method can be achieved, significant engineering developments are required. Since MRI does not reliably show prostate tumors, we intend to incorporate nuclear medicine images with higher sensitivity for detecting and localizing prostate tumors. We investigated image registration techniques to incorporate other imaging modalities into interventional MRI (iMRI)-guided treatment for improved tumor targeting. MR imaging techniques were developed for the prostate that could possibly be used for prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. High resolution MRI and SPECT images were combined and included into interventional MRI-guided procedures such as the applications of thermal ablation treatment for the prostate cancer. We created three image registration techniques that could be used to combine high resolution MRI and SPECT images with iMRI images. We demonstrated the feasibility of combining the three modalities for iMRI-guided thermal ablation treatment. With this research, we create a potential minimally invasive treatment method for prostate cancer that requires no radiation, surgery, or hospitalization. We achieved the goals of training and research in the two years.