MR Spectroscopy

In collaboration with Hyunsuk Shim from Emory, our team is developing new methods for processing 3D whole-brain MR spectroscopy (SMRI) data to enable clinical translation and to make SMRI the standard of care for gliomas. SMRI generates a spectral profile at each imaging voxel, and the metabolite concentrations can be used detect non-enhancing neoplastic infiltration that is not detectible on standard T2 imaging. SMRI can enable better sampling of malignant regions during biopsy, and better treatment of non-enhancing areas that lead to early recurrence.

Our group has developed new spectral fitting algorithms based on convolutional networks to reduce post-imaging processing times from over an hour to several minutes to meet the requirements for routine clinical use and to improve fitting quality. We have also developed novel artifact filtering algorithms based on supervised learning to identify voxels with poor acquisition quality to enable whole-brain imaging and to aid neuroradiologists who lack specialized MRSI expertise. Together with work on new imaging sequences and visualization software, these improved data processing pipelines are supporting clinical trials using SMRI to make treatment-altering decisions.

Members

Saumya Gurbani, MD, PhD
Alumni - MD/PhD
Lee Cooper, PhD
Principal Investigator

Publications

Gurbani SS, Sheriff S, Maudsley AA, Shim H, Cooper LA. Incorporation of a spectral model in a convolutional neural network for accelerated spectral fitting. Magnetic resonance in medicine. 2019 May;81(5):3346-57.

Gurbani S, Weinberg B, Cooper L, Mellon E, Schreibmann E, Sheriff S, Maudsley A, Goryawala M, Shu HK, Shim H. The Brain Imaging Collaboration Suite (BrICS): a cloud platform for integrating whole-brain spectroscopic MRI into the radiation therapy planning workflow. Tomography. 2019 Mar;5(1):184.

Gurbani SS, Schreibmann E, Maudsley AA, Cordova JS, Soher BJ, Poptani H, Verma G, Barker PB, Shim H, Cooper LA. A convolutional neural network to filter artifacts in spectroscopic MRI. Magnetic resonance in medicine. 2018 Nov;80(5):1765-75.

Cordova JS, Shu HK, Liang Z, Gurbani SS, Cooper LA, Holder CA, Olson JJ, Kairdolf B, Schreibmann E, Neill SG, Hadjipanayis CG. Whole-brain spectroscopic MRI biomarkers identify infiltrating margins in glioblastoma patients. Neuro-oncology. 2016 Aug 1;18(8):1180-9.

Funding

Improved Whole-Brain Spectroscopic MRI for Radiation Treatment Planning
NIBIB U01EB028145
$2,439,186
Development of Automated Web-Based Spectroscopic MRI Clinical Interface
NINDS R21NS100244
$233,258