Medica l Image Ana lysis & Ar t i f icia l Intel l igence Symposium 2022 Nr. 8: Dr. Olgica Zaric, PhD, MSc: Quantitative sodium 23Na-MRI– an improved protocol for breast cancer treatment efficacy evaluation Curriculum Vitae: Dr. Olgiac Zaric has been dedicated to the development and implementation of advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, such as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), sodium (23Na), and chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging in breast tumor characterization and treatment efficacy monitoring. Her future research will be focused on retrospective analyses of the radiomics derived from patient data who have undergone multiparametric MRI scans and on prospective studies, such as sodium fingerprinting imaging and employment of deep learning techniques to develop predictors for breast lesions diagnosis and classification and early response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) treatments. The studies will be performed in a collaboration of DPU and High Field MR Centre, MUV as part of joint projects whose preparation is currently in progress. Abstract: Quantitative sodium 23Na-MRI– an improved protocol for breast cancer treatment efficacy evaluation Sodium concentration changes in tissue can be considered as a reliable biomarker for cell viability and functioning, while relaxation properties of sodium in the tissue might be sensitive to tissue microstructure or changes due to different pathological conditions. This work aims to develop a clinically reliable protocol for quantitative assessment of treatment efficacy, which is non-invasive, accurate, and obtained with sodium magnetic resonance imaging (23Na-MRI) and magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF). An initial protocol was generated for the endocrinological disorders study and investigation of tissue sodium concentrations (TSC) of the calf muscle and modified to be applicable for breast cancer immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment efficacy monitoring using 23Na-MRI. When the new protocol was followed, we found that the difference between uncorrected and corrected TSC values is approximately 25%. In conclusion, the accuracy of the method might be increased by including additional post-processing steps and tissue compartment segmentation in TSC calculations.
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