Tumor perfusion and neovascular morphology measurements using dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging

Abstract

A novel image processing strategy is introduced for the measurement of tumor perfusion and neovascular morphology parameters from a sequence of dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) images. A computationally efficient technique for locally mapping tumor perfusion parameters using skeletonized neovascular data is also introduced. Longitudinal DCE-US image datasets were collected in breast cancer patients before and after initiation neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Preliminary findings suggest that breast tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is characterized in part by considerable changes in intratumoral perfusion parameters. Moreover, it was also revealed that DCE-US-based neovascular morphology parametric measures also exhibit pronounced changes that may be predictive of breast tumor response to systemic treatment as determined from surgical specimens. Breast cancer management from early detection to therapeutic monitoring is currently undergoing profound changes. The development of novel imaging techniques that are sensitive to the unique biological conditions of each individual tumor represent valuable tools in the pursuit of personalize medicine.