Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Quantitative Imaging Characteristics of (18)F Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT Allow Prediction of Distant Metastasis.

Purpose To identify quantitative imaging biomarkers at fluorine 18 ((18)F) positron emission tomography (PET) for predicting distant metastasis in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods In this institutional review board-approved HIPAA-compliant retrospective study, the pretreatment (18)F fluorodeoxyglucose PET images in 101 patients treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy from 2005 to 2013 were analyzed. Data for 70 patients who were treated before 2011 were used for discovery purposes, while data from the remaining 31 patients were used for independent validation.

Two-bubble acoustic tweezing cytometry for biomechanical probing and stimulation of cells.

The study of mechanotransduction relies on tools that are capable of applying mechanical forces to elicit and assess cellular responses. Here we report a new (to our knowledge) technique, called two-bubble acoustic tweezing cytometry (TB-ATC), for generating spatiotemporally controlled subcellular mechanical forces on live cells by acoustic actuation of paired microbubbles targeted to the cell adhesion receptor integrin. By measuring the ultrasound-induced activities of cell-bound microbubbles and the actin cytoskeleton contractile force responses, we determine that TB-ATC elicits mechanoresponsive cellular changes via cyclic, paired displacements of integrin-bound microbubbles driven by the attractive secondary acoustic radiation force (sARF) between the bubbles in an ultrasound field.

A unifying probabilistic Bayesian approach to derive electron density from MRI for radiation therapy treatment planning.

MRI significantly improves the accuracy and reliability of target delineation in radiation therapy for certain tumors due to its superior soft tissue contrast compared to CT. A treatment planning process with MRI as the sole imaging modality will eliminate systematic CT/MRI co-registration errors, reduce cost and radiation exposure, and simplify clinical workflow. However, MRI lacks the key electron density information necessary for accurate dose calculation and generating reference images for patient setup.

Effects of hydroxyapatite on endothelial network formation in collagen/fibrin composite hydrogels in vitro and in vivo.

Co-culture of endothelial cells (EC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) results in robust vascular network formation in constrained 3-D collagen/fibrin (COL/FIB) composite hydrogels. However, the ability to form endothelial networks is lost when such gels are allowed to compact via cell-mediated remodeling. In this study, we created co-cultures of human EC and human MSC in both constrained and unconstrained COL/FIB matrices and systematically added nanoparticulate hydroxyapatite (HA, 0-20 mg ml(-1)), a bone-like mineral that has been shown to have pro-vasculogenic effects.

Noninvasive quantification of in vitro osteoblastic differentiation in 3D engineered tissue constructs using spectral ultrasound imaging.

Non-destructive monitoring of engineered tissues is needed for translation of these products from the lab to the clinic. In this study, non-invasive, high resolution spectral ultrasound imaging (SUSI) was used to monitor the differentiation of MC3T3 pre-osteoblasts seeded within collagen hydrogels. SUSI was used to measure the diameter, concentration and acoustic attenuation of scatterers within such constructs cultured in either control or osteogenic medium over 21 days.

Transmural ultrasound imaging of thermal lesion and action potential changes in perfused canine cardiac wedge preparations by high intensity focused ultrasound ablation.

Intra-procedural imaging is important for guiding cardiac arrhythmia ablation. It is difficult to obtain intra-procedural correlation of thermal lesion formation with action potential (AP) changes in the transmural plane during ablation. This study tested parametric ultrasound imaging for transmural imaging of lesion and AP changes in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation using coronary perfused canine ventricular wedge preparations (n = 13).

Tomographic reconstruction of tissue properties and temperature increase for high-intensity focused ultrasound applications.

The acoustic and thermal properties as well as the temperature change within a tissue volume during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation are critically important for treatment planning and monitoring. Described in this article is a tomographic reconstruction method used to determine the tissue properties and increase in temperature in a 3-D volume. On the basis of the iterative finite-element solution to the bioheat equation coupled with Tikhonov regularization techniques, our reconstruction algorithm solves the inverse problem of bioheat transfer and uses the time-dependent temperature measured on a tissue surface to obtain the acoustic absorption coefficient, thermal diffusivity and temperature increase within the subsurface volume.

High-frequency rapid B-mode ultrasound imaging for real-time monitoring of lesion formation and gas body activity during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation.

The goal of this study was to examine the ability of high-frame-rate, high-resolution imaging to monitor tissue necrosis and gas-body activities formed during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) application. Ex vivo porcine cardiac tissue specimens (n = 24) were treated with HIFU exposure (4.33 MHz, 77 to 130 Hz pulse repetition frequency (PRF), 25 to 50% duty cycle, 0.

Noninvasive, quantitative, spatiotemporal characterization of mineralization in three-dimensional collagen hydrogels using high-resolution spectral ultrasound imaging.

As tissue engineering products move toward the clinic, nondestructive methods to monitor their development and ensure quality are needed. In this study, high-resolution spectral ultrasound imaging (SUSI) was used to noninvasively characterize mineral content in collagen hydrogels. SUSI was used to generate three-dimensional (3D) grayscale (GS) images of construct morphology with submillimeter resolution.

Characterization of the pancreas in vivo using EUS spectrum analysis with electronic array echoendoscopes.

Background: Spectral analysis of the radiofrequency (RF) signals that underlie grayscale EUS images has been used to provide quantitative, objective information about tissue histology.

Objective: Our purpose was to validate RF spectral analysis as a method to distinguish between chronic pancreatitis (CP) and pancreatic cancer (PC).

Design And Setting: A prospective study of eligible patients was conducted to analyze the RF data obtained by using electronic array echoendoscopes.

High-frequency ultrasound m-mode imaging for identifying lesion and bubble activity during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation.

Effective real-time monitoring of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation is important for application of HIFU technology in interventional electrophysiology. This study investigated rapid, high-frequency M-mode ultrasound imaging for monitoring spatiotemporal changes during HIFU application. HIFU (4.

Continuous left ventricular ejection fraction monitoring by aortic pressure waveform analysis.

We developed a technique to monitor left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) by model-based analysis of the aortic pressure waveform. First, the aortic pressure waveform is represented with a lumped parameter circulatory model. Then, the model is fitted to each beat of the waveform to estimate its lumped parameters to within a constant scale factor equal to the arterial compliance (C (a)).