Systems and methods for imaging changes in tissue

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for monitoring tissue regions. In particular, the present invention provides systems and methods for detecting changes in tissue regions over a period of time. In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present invention are used to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular treatment of a tissue region. In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present invention provide a parametric response map approach for detecting and analyzing changes in tissue regions over a period of time to detect and monitor disease or tissue health and to monitor the impact of therapeutic interventions.

1 . A method for detecting changes in a tissue region, the method comprising:
 a) obtaining a first set of parametric measurement data for a tissue region with an imaging device, the first set of parametric measurement data comprising a plurality of voxels;   b) obtaining one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data, each subsequent set of parametric measurement data comprising a plurality of voxels, and the subsequent sets of parametric measurement data being obtained with an imaging device;   c) registering the one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data with the first set of parametric measurement data;   d) determining whether there is a change in the tissue region by comparing at least a portion of voxels of the one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data with corresponding voxels of the first set of parametric measurement data, wherein comparing comprises determining, for each voxel and corresponding voxel compared, whether there is an increase, decrease, or no change in a parametric measurement property of the voxel; and   e) characterizing the state of the tissue region based on the comparison of one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data with the first set of parametric measurement data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the change in the tissue region is caused by medical intervention performed after obtaining the first set of parametric measurement data for the tissue region. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the change in the tissue region is caused by natural progression or regression of a disease or condition. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parametric measurement property comprises at least one of absolute blood volume data, relative blood volume data, extravascular leakage space data, blood flow data, mean transit time data, and time to peak data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parametric measurement property comprise measures of vascular permeability data selected from the group consisting of K Trans , AUC, and leakage space. 
     
     
         6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tissue region is selected from the group consisting of a malignant tumor, a benign tumor, an abnormal growth, an inflamed region, a cancerous region, an infected region, a diseased region, an organ rejection, and one or more organs selected from the group consisting of lung, prostate, breast, colon, rectum, bladder, ovaries, skin, liver, spine, bone, pancreas, cervix, lymph, thyroid, adrenal gland, salivary gland, sebaceous gland, testis, thymus gland, penis, uterus, trachea, heart, and spleen. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one parametric response map is generated based on the comparing, the parametric response map showing which voxels of the compared voxels have an increased, decreased, or unchanged parametric measurement property. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the parametric response map shows changes in parametric data as color changes. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tissue region is within a living human being. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the registering and determining occur automatically after obtaining the one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data. 
     
     
         12 . A method for optimizing a therapeutic intervention, comprising:
 a) obtaining a first set of parametric measurement data for a tissue region with an imaging device, the first set of parametric measurement data comprising a plurality of voxels;   b) obtaining one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data for the tissue region using an image device, each subsequent set of parametric measurement data comprising a plurality of voxels;   c) using a parametric response map algorithm:
 registering the one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data with the first set of parametric measurement data; 
 for at least a portion of the voxels of the one or more subsequent sets of parametric measurement data, determining, on a voxel-by-voxel basis, whether there is a change in a parametric measurement property of the voxel by comparing the voxel with a corresponding voxel of the first set of parametric measurement data; and 
 comparing the change in the parametric measurement property to a defined threshold; 
   d) generating a parametric response map showing the change in the parametric measurement property of each compared voxel; and   e) assessing the effectiveness of a treatment or therapeutic intervention based on the parametric response map.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising discontinuing a previously selected therapeutic intervention or treatment. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the parametric measurement property comprises at least one of absolute blood volume data, relative cerebral blood volume data, vascular permeability data, and extravascular leakage space data. 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A device comprising a processor configured to process the sets of parametric measurement data with the parametric response map algorithm to generate the parametric response map of  claim 12 . 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 17 , comprising software that comprises the parametric response map algorithm. 
     
     
         19 . A system comprising the device of  claim 17 . 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising an imaging device. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a technique for the registration is selected from a group consisting of rigid body, affine (linear), and warping (non-linear) algorithms. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein a technique for the registration is selected from a group consisting of rigid body, affine (linear), and warping (non-linear) algorithms.