INVESTIGATION OF THERAPY IMPROVEMENT USING REAL-TIME PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING GUIDED HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND

There are a lot of risks in cancer treatment by invasive surgery, such as bleeding, wound infection, and long recovery time, etc. Therefore, there is great need for minimally- or non-invasive treatment. High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a rapidly growing and truly non-invasive technology. It has been widely used in therapeutic applications, such as rapid tissue heating and tissue ablation. With proper imaging guidance, HIFU treatment can be performed totally noninvasively. Currently, ultrasound imaging-guided HIFU has been extensively studied. However, ultrasound imaging guidance is less precise because of the relatively low imaging contrast, sensitivity, and specificity for noninvasive detection. In this study, we employed photoacoustic imaging (PAI) technique, which has been developed a novel promising imaging technique for early cancer detection, to guide HIFU treatment. The goal of this study is to investigate the feasibility of PAI to guide, monitor in real time and enhance the HIFU therapy. In this dissertation, as the first step, the integrated PAI and HIFU system had been shown to have the feasibility to guide HIFU both ex vivo and in vivo. Then, the system was improved and developed to a real-time PAI-guided HIFU system. It is demonstrated that the sensitivity of PA detection for HIFU lesion is very high and the saturation of PA signals can be used as the indicator for tissue coagulation. During the temperature measurement using this system, laser-enhanced HIFU heating was found. Thus, we further investigated the laser enhanced technique in both HIFU heating and pulsed HIFU thrombolysis. In the HIFU therapy, laser light was employed to illuminate the sample concurrently with HIFU radiation. The resulting cavitation was detected with a passive cavitation detector. We demonstrated that concurrent light illumination during HIFU has the potential to significantly enhance HIFU by reducing cavitation threshold

Imaging acute thermal burns by photoacoustic microscopy

The clinical significance of a burn depends on the percentage of total body involved and the depth of the burn. Hence a noninvasive method that is able to evaluate burn depth would be of great help in clinical evaluation. To this end, photoacoustic microscopy is used to determine the depth of acute thermal burns by imaging the total hemoglobin concentration in the blood that accumulates along the boundaries of injuries as a result of thermal damage to the vasculature. We induce acute thermal burns in vivo on pig skin with cautery. Photoacoustic images of the burns are acquired after skin excision. In a burn treated at 175°C for 20s, the maximum imaged burn depth is 1.73±0.07mm. In burns treated at 150°C for 5, 10, 20, and 30s, respectively, the trend of increasing maximum burn depth with longer thermal exposure is demonstrated

VISUALIZATION OF ULTRASOUND INDUCED CAVITATION BUBBLES USING SYNCHROTRON ANALYZER BASED IMAGING

Ultrasound is recognized as the fastest growing medical modality for imaging and therapy. Being noninvasive, painless, portable, X-ray radiation-free and far less expensive than magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound is widely used in medicine today. Despite these benefits, undesirable bioeffects of high-frequency sound waves have raised concerns; particularly, because ultrasound imaging has become an integral part of prenatal care today and is increasingly used for therapeutic applications. As such, ultrasound bioeffects must be carefully considered to ensure optimal benefits-to-risk ratio. In this context, few studies have been done to explore the physics (i.e. ‘cavitation’) behind the risk factors. One reason may be associated with the challenges in visualization of ultrasound-induced cavitation bubbles in situ. To address this issue, this research aims to develop a synchrotron-based assessment technique to enable visualization and characterization of ultrasound-induced microbubbles in a physiologically relevant medium under standard ultrasound operating conditions. The first objective is to identify a suitable synchrotron X-ray imaging technique for visualization of ultrasound-induced microbubbles in water. Two synchrotron X-ray phase-sensitive imaging techniques, in-line phase contrast imaging (PCI) and analyzer-based imaging (ABI), were evaluated. Results revealed the superiority of the ABI method compared to PCI for visualization of ultrasound-induced microbubbles. The second main objective is to employ the ABI method to assess the effects of ultrasound acoustic frequency and power on visualization and mapping of ultrasound-induced microbubble patterns in water. The time-averaged probability of ultrasound-induced microbubble occurrence along the ultrasound beam propagation in water was determined using the ABI method. Results showed the utility of synchrotron ABI for visualizing cavitation bubbles formed in water by clinical ultrasound systems working at high frequency and output powers as low as used for therapeutic systems. It was demonstrated that the X-ray ABI method has great potential for mapping ultrasound-induced microbubble patterns in a fluidic environment under different ultrasound operating conditions of clinical therapeutic devices. Taken together, this research represents an advance in detection techniques for visualization and mapping of ultrasound-induced microbubble patterns using the synchrotron X-ray ABI method without usage of contrast agents. Findings from this research will pave the road toward the development of a synchrotron-based detection technique for characterization of ultrasound-induced cavitation microbubbles in soft tissues in the future

Biomechanical Assessment and Monitoring of Thermal Ablation Using Harmonic Motion Imaging for Focused Ultrasound (HMIFU)

Cancer remains, one of the major public health problems in the United States as well as many other countries worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, cancer is currently the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths annually, and 25% of the annual death was due to Cancer during the year of 2011. In the long history of the cancer treatment field, many treatment options have been established up to date. Traditional procedures include surgical procedures as well as systemic therapies such as biologic therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and radiation therapy. Nevertheless, side-effects are often associated with such procedures due to the systemic delivery across the entire body. Recently technologies have been focused on localized therapy under minimally or noninvasive procedure with imaging-guidance, such as cryoablation, laser ablation, radio‐frequency (RF) ablation, and High Intensity F-ocused Ultrasound (HIFU). HIFU is a non-invasive procedure aims to coagulate tissue thermally at a localized focal zone created with noninvasively emitting a set of focused ultrasound beams while the surrounding healthy tissues remain relatively untreated. Harmonic Motion Imaging for Focused Ultrasound (HMIFU) is a dynamic, radiation-force-based imaging technique, which utilizes a single HIFU transducer by emitting an Amplitude-modulated (AM) beam to both thermally ablate the tumor while inducing a stable oscillatory tissue displacement at its focal zone. The oscillatory response is then estimated by a cross-correlation based motion tracking technique on the signal collected by a confocally-aligned diagnostic transducer. HMIFU addresses the most critical aspect and one of the major unmet needs of HIFU treatment, which is the ability to perform real-time monitoring and mapping of tissue property change during the HIFU treatment. In this dissertation, both the assessment and monitoring aspects of HMIFU have been investigated fundamentally and experimentally through development of both a 1-D and 2-D based system. The performance assessment of HMIFU technique in depicting the lesion size increase as well as the lesion-to-background displacement contrast was first demonstrated using a 3D, FE-based interdisciplinary simulation framework. Through the development of 1-D HMIFU system, a multi-parametric monitoring approach was presented where presented where the focal HMI displacement, phase shift (Δφ), and correlation coefficients were monitored along with thermocouple and PCD under the HIFU treatment sequence with boiling and slow denaturation. For HIFU treatments with slow denaturation, consistent displacement increase-then-decrease trend was observed, indicating tissue softening-then-stiffening and phase shift increased with treatment time in agreement with mechanical testing outcomes. The correlation coefficient remained high throughout the entire treatment time under a minimized broadband energy and boiling mechanism. Contrarily, both displacement and phase shift changes lacked consistency under HIFU treatment sequences with boiling due to the presence of strong boiling mechanism confirmed by both PCD and thermocouple monitoring. In order to facilitate its clinical translation, a fully-integrated, clinically 2D real-time HMIFU system was also developed, which is capable of providing 2D real-time streaming during HIFU treatment up to 15 Hz without interruption. Reproducibility studies of the system showed consistent displacement estimation on tissue-mimicking phantoms as well as monitoring of tissue-softening-then-stiffening phase change across 16 out of 19 liver specimens (Increasing rate in phase shift (Δφ): 0.73±0.69 %/s, Decreasing rate in phase shift (Δφ): 0.60±0.19 %/s) along with thermocouple monitoring (Increasing: 0.84±1.15 %/ °C, Decreasing: 2.03± 0.93%/ °C) and validation of tissue stiffening using mechanical testing. In addition, the 2-D HMIFU system feasibility on preclinical pancreatic tumor mice model was also demonstrated in vivo, where HMI displacement decreases were observed across three of five treatment locations on the kP(f)c model at 20.8±6.84, 18.6±1.46, and 24.0±5.43%, as well as across four of the seven treatment locations on the KPC model at 39.5±2.98%, 34.5±21.5%, 16.0±3.05%, and 35.0±3.12% along with H and E histological confirmation. In order to improve the quantitative monitoring aspect of HMIFU, a novel, model-independent method for the estimating Young's modulus based on strain profile was also implemented, where 1-D HMIFU system showed feasibilities on polyacrylamide phantom (EHMI/E ≈ 2.3) and liver specimen (EHMI/E ≈ 8.1), and 2-D HMIFU system showed feasibilities on copolymer phantom(EHMI/E ≈ 30.4), liver specimen(EHMI/E ≈ 211.3), as well as HIFU treated liver specimen (EHMI,end/EHMI,beginning ≈ 5.96). In conclusion, the outcomes from the aforementioned studies successfully showed the feasibility of both HMIFU systems in multi-parametric monitoring of HIFU treatment with slow denaturation and boiling, which prepares its stage towards clinical translation

Focused Ultrasound Thermal Therapy Monitoring using Ultrasound, Infrared Thermal, and Photoacoustic Imaging Techniques.

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a promising thermal treatment modality which deposits heat noninvasively in a confined tissue volume to treat localized diseased tissue or malignancy through hyperthermia or high temperature ablation. FUS compatible guiding and monitoring systems to provide real-time information on tissue temperature and/or status (e.g., native or necrotized) are important to ensure safe and effective treatment outcome; however, current development of such systems are restricted to ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The work described in this dissertation represents efforts not only to explore new tools to evaluate current monitoring techniques but also to develop new FUS monitoring modalities. In the first study, a new evaluation platform for ultrasound thermometry using infrared (IR) thermography was developed and demonstrated using phantoms subjected to FUS heating, providing a fast calibration and validation tool with spatiotemporal temperature information unavailable with traditional thermocouple measurements. In the second study, IR thermography was investigated as a new tool for high temperature FUS ablation monitoring. The spatiotemporal temperature characteristics in correspondence to lesion formation and bubble activities were identified using simultaneous IR and bright-field imaging. Tissue-specific thermal damage threshold, which is critical for accurate estimation of tissue status based on temperature time history, was also obtained using the same system. In the final study, we developed a novel dual-wavelength photoacoustic (PA) sensing technique for monitoring tissue status during thermal treatments, which is capable of separating the two effects from temperature rise and changes in optical properties due to tissue alteration. Experimental validations of the theoretical derivation were carried out on ex-vivo cardiac tissue using water-bath heating on lesions generated by FUS. Future directions of research include in-vivo technique demonstration where effects such as blood perfusion on FUS heating need to be considered. When FUS operates in the non-ablative regime without causing irreversible changes in tissue, treatment monitoring techniques investigated in this study also have the potential to be translated into diagnostic tools.PhDBiomedical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99827/1/yising_1.pd

Imaging acute thermal burns by photoacoustic microscopy

The clinical significance of a burn depends on the percentage of total body involved and the depth of the burn. Hence a noninvasive method that is able to evaluate burn depth would be of great help in clinical evaluation. To this end, photoacoustic microscopy is used to determine the depth of acute thermal burns by imaging the total hemoglobin concentration in the blood that accumulates along the boundaries of injuries as a result of thermal damage to the vasculature. We induce acute thermal burns in vivo on pig skin with cautery. Photoacoustic images of the burns are acquired after skin excision. In a burn treated at 175°C for 20s, the maximum imaged burn depth is 1.73±0.07mm. In burns treated at 150°C for 5, 10, 20, and 30s, respectively, the trend of increasing maximum burn depth with longer thermal exposure is demonstrated

Development of a Harmonic Motion Imaging guided Focused Ultrasound system for breast tumor characterization and treatment monitoring

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women. About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime. Existing methods of early detection of breast cancer include mammography and palpation, either by patient self-examination or clinical breast exam. Palpation is the manual detection of differences in tissue stiffness between breast tumors and normal breast tissue. The success of palpation relies on the fact that the stiffness of breast tumors is often an order of magnitude greater than that of normal breast tissue, i.e., breast lesions feel ''hard'' or ''lumpy'' as compared to normal breast tissue. A mammogram is an x-ray that allows a qualified specialist to examine the breast tissue for any suspicious areas. Mammography is less likely to reveal breast tumors in women younger than 50 years with denser breast than in older women. When a suspicious site is detected in the breast through a breast self-exam or on a screening mammogram, the doctor may request an ultrasound of the breast tissue. A breast ultrasound can provide evidence about whether the lump is a solid mass, a cyst filled with fluid, or a combination of the two. An invasive needle biopsy is the only diagnostic procedure that can definitely determine if the suspicious area is cancerous. In the clinic, 80% of women who have a breast biopsy do not have breast cancer. Most women with breast cancer diagnosed will have some type of surgery to remove the tumor. Depending on the type of breast cancer and how advanced it is, the patient might need other types of treatment as well, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Image-guided minimally-invasive treatment of localized breast tumor as an alternative to traditional breast surgery, such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment, has become a subject of intensive research. HIFU applies extreme high temperatures to induce irreversible cell injury, tumor apoptosis and coagulative necrosis. Compared with conventional surgical procedures the main advantages of HIFU ablation lie in the fact that it is non-invasive, less scarring and less painful, allowing for shorter recovery time. HIFU can be guided by MRI (MRgFUS) or by conventional diagnostic ultrasound (USgFUS). Worldwide, thousands of patients with uterine fibroids, liver cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, bone tumors, and renal cancer have been treated by USgFUS. In this dissertation, the objective is to develop an integrated Harmonic Motion Imaging guided Focused Ultrasound (HMIgFUS) system as a clinical monitoring technique for breast HIFU with the added capability of detecting tumors for treatment planning, evaluation of tissue stiffness changes during HIFU ablation for treatment monitoring in real time, and assessment of thermal lesion sizes after treatment evaluation. A new HIFU treatment planning method was described that used oscillatory radiation force induced displacement amplitude variations to detect the HIFU focal spot before lesioning. Using this method, we were able to visualize the HMIgFUS focal region at variable depths. By comparing the estimated displacement profiles with lesion locations in pathology, we demonstrated the feasibility of using this HMI-based technique to localize the HIFU focal spot and predict lesion location during the planning phase. For HIFU monitoring, a HIFU lesion detection and ablation monitoring method was first developed using oscillatory radiation force induced displacement amplitude variations in real time. Using this method, the HMIgFUS focal region and lesion formation were visualized in real time at a feedback rate of 2.4 Hz. By comparing the estimated lesion size against gross pathology, the feasibility of using HMIgFUS to monitor treatment and lesion formation without interruption is demonstrated. In order to reduce the imaging time, it is shown in this dissertation that using the steered FUS beam, HMI can be used to image a 2.3 times larger ROI without requiring physical movement of the transducer. Using steering for HMI can be used to shorten the total imaging duration without requiring physical movement of the transducer. For the application of breast tumor, HMI and HMIgFUS were optimized and applied to ex vivo breast tissue. The results showed that HMI is experimentally capable of mapping and differentiating stiffness in normal and abnormal breast tissues. HMIgFUS can also successfully generate thermal lesions on normal and pathological breast tissues. HMI has also been applied to post-surgical breast mastectomy specimens to mimic the in vivo environment. In the end, the first HMI clinical system has been built with added capability of GUP-based parallel beamforming. A clinical trial has been approved at Columbia University to image breast tumor on patient. The HMI clinical system has shown to be able to map fibroadenoma mass on two patients with valid HMI displacement. The study in this dissertation may yield an early-detection technique for breast cancer without any age discrimination and thus, increase the survival rate

PHOTOACOUSTIC IMAGING AND HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND IN BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

Optical and acoustical technologies for biomedical devices have been developed rapidly in the past years. These non-invasive technologies are used for diagnostic and therapeutic studies with great potential for improving biomedical applications. In this work, photoacoustic imaging that combines the advantages of optical and ultrasound imaging, and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment enhanced with laser were investigated to understand the application and feasibility of optics and acoustics in biomedical studies. At first, photoacoustic tomography system was used to monitor brain functional activation by monitoring the changes of the blood volume at the cerebral cortex surface of rats induced by cocaine hydrochloride. And, the research was continued with a photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) system. With the PAM system, the brain images were obtained at coronal views, and the regional changes in the total hemoglobin (HbT) concentration were presented. Additionally, a customized photoacoustic imaging system was applied to detect the neuronal activity in the motor cortex of an awake, behaving monkey during forelimb movement. The research results that showed the activated region images demonstrated the capability of photoacoustic imaging. Next, photoacoustic wave propagation was studied using shock wave theory. The propagation was analyzed in non-linear way and simulated to compare the difference between existing linear and non-linear solutions. Further, the combination of laser and HIFU treatment was studied. Cavitation activities and increase of temperature during HIFU treatment were investigated by using in vivo murine animal models. The enhanced results from the HIFU treatment with laser illumination showed the efficacy and potential of the system. The studies of PA imaging and HIFU treatment demonstrate the high feasibility of using optics and acoustics in the biomedical area