Joint ViSE and BME Seminar: Real-time Active Tracking of Metallic Needles during MR-guided Radiation Therapy: From Concept to the First Human Trial, SC 5326, Thursday January 15th, 12:15. Refreshments provided.
Title: Real-time Active Tracking of Metallic Needles during MR-guided Radiation Therapy: From Concept to the First Human Trial
Speaker: Wei Wang, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Departments of Radiology and Radiation Oncology
Date: Thursday, January 15th
Time: 12:15-1:10 pm
Place: Stevenson Center 5326
Abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging is invaluable in radiation therapy (RT) due to the superior delineation of the tumor and the surrounding organs. In interstitial RT (brachytherapy), treatment outcomes may improve via proper placement of catheters to deliver radioactive sources into the tumors and precise identification of the catheter trajectories after placement for treatment planning. The catheters, which are filled with metallic needles during placement, can be passively identified based on metal artifact in MR images, but this process is time-consuming and relatively inaccurate. It is also challenging for currently available active-tracking methods to guide needle placement because of the magnetic field inhomogeneities created by metal. We developed an active tracking device and dedicated software which enables rapid and accurate real-time tracking of the metallic needle, leading to an improvement in the accuracy and speed of MRI-guided clinical interventions. This talk will present the design and construction of our novel tracking device, discuss the strategies to track metallic devices via MRI, and show examples of how our technique has been used to guide brachytherapy needle placement in the real clinical cases.