Development of Ultrasound-Guided Photoacoustic Imaging for Noninvasive Detection of Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Melanoma Patients
Abstract
In melanoma skin cancer patients, determination of whether a malignancy has spread is the single most important factor used to develop a therapeutic plan and to predict prognosis. In most cases cancer cells initially spread through regional lymph nodes. The presence of malignant cells in the first lymph node to which a tumor drains - known as the sentinel lymphnode (SLN) - is a harbinger of distant metastases and a low survival rate. Therefore, clinical evaluation for the presence of regional lymph node metastases is critical. We propose to develop an advanced, in-vivo, clinically translatable noninvasive imaging technology, i.e., integrated ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging, capable of immediate and accurate assessment of SLN micro-metastases in real time. The central theme of this application is to design, build and test a prototype of the SLN ultrasound-guided photoacoustic (USPA) imaging tool.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1114547
Entities
People
- Stanislav Emelianov
- Yiying Zhu
Organizations
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation