Development of Ultrasound-Guided Photoacoustic Imaging for Noninvasive Detection of Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Melanoma Patients
Abstract
I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I work in the Ultrasound Imaging and Therapeutics Research Laboratory. The laboratory is an integral part of Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University School of Medicine, focusing on contemporary challenges in biomedical imaging and therapeutics. My goal is to dedicate my professional career to teaching and research in biomedical engineering, specifically in the field of non-invasive cancer diagnosis and treatment planning. We propose to develop an advanced, in-vivo, clinically translatable safe imaging technology, i.e., integrated ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, capable of immediate and accurate assessment of spread of cancer in real time for melanoma cancer patients. The award will be extremely helpful for me to develop and prove this imaging technique. My mentor, Dr. Stanislav Emelianov, has extensive experience in the development of advanced imaging methods capable of detecting and diagnosing cancer and other pathologies, assisting treatment planning, and enhancing image-guided therapy and monitoring of the treatment outcome. Under his mentorship, I believe I will be well supported to push this safe imaging technique to clinical practice to help patients with melanoma. The real-time detection will minimize their anxiety waiting for diagnosis results and also allow for earlier treatment. Currently, over 90% of cancer-related deaths can be attributed either directly or indirectly to the spread of the disease. Thus, determining the spread of cancer from a primary tumor is of great importance in cancer staging and in the development of a treatment strategy. For melanoma and other skin cancers, the presence of cancer cells in the first lymph node to which a tumor drains – known as the sentinel lymph node – is an indication of spread of the cancer and a low survival rate. An examination of sentinel lymph node tissue removed from a living body to discover the presence, cause, or extent of the cancer is needed. Often the procedure also involves guidance by radioactive materials in cancer staging. Therefore, the current available procedures are invasive, expose the patient to radioactive compounds, have a high level of morbidity, and may require 2 or more weeks to obtain results. The waiting for tissue sample test results can lead to anxiety, with high stress hormone. Then cortisol levels can influence wound healing and immune response, raising a patient s potential health risks if the patient ultimately needs to be treated for cancer. And the stress and anxiety of waiting also affects the quality of life of the patient, the patient s family and the patient s work. To that end, we are currently constructing a clinical combined ultrasound/photoacoustic imaging system optimized for lymph node imaging in patients with cancer. Because the technique requires no injection and because it exposes the patient to safe levels of non-ionizing radiation, clinical studies can be initiated quickly. Furthermore, the imaging results could be used to help plan radiation therapy. Once our advanced imaging technique is used in clinical practice, the real-time detection will not only provide accurate and reliable cancer spread identification but will also decrease the waiting time dramatically for diagnosis results. It will minimize the anxiety of Service member patients and allow for earlier treatment. Overall, our ultrasound/photoacoustic imaging for sentinel lymph node and other applications is significant. Clinical acceptance of this imaging is high, because a typical clinical ultrasound imaging system, interfaced with a pulsed laser source, can be used to acquire both ultrasound and photoacoustic images. Our method will map sentinel lymph node cancer spread using combined ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, thus improving the diagnostic capabilities of ultrasound imaging. Finally, our approach adds a clinically valuable utility to and
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 16, 2019
- Source ID
- W81XWH1910187
Entities
People
- Yiying Zhu
Organizations
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- United States Army