abstract |
A system and method for automated characterization of solid tumors using medical imaging. The system comprises an interface that is configured to acquire data from medical imaging devices, one or more processors, and an outputting device that reports the characterization of said solid tumor. The method of automated characterization, which is implemented by the system, acquires a sequence of images from the medical imager using a Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) imaging protocol, performs image registration, detects the contour of the solid tumor, and dividing the contours to segments. For each segment, the method calculating a displacement of the contrast material, fitting the displacement to a flow model and extracting an estimation of the interstitial fluid velocity. The estimated interstitial fluid velocity of the segments provide characterization of the solid tumor and includes an assessment of the tumor interstitial fluid pressure, the tumor drug delivery efficiency, and the tumor prognostic or metastasis risk. |