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Session I : Molecular / Targeted Contrast Agents

 

PMNP-bPANI System and Molecular Imaging
Junwei Li, Soon Joon Yoon    UW uWAMIT

Photoacoustic imaging (PA) has emerged as a highly promising tool to visualize molecular events with deep tissue penetration. Like most other modalities, however, image contrast under in vivo conditions is far from optimal due to background signals from tissue. Here we report two significant advances toward clinical translation of this technology. First, we introduce a new class of compact, uniform, magneto-optically coupled core-shell nanoparticle: MNP-bPANI. The resulting nanoparticles feature high colloidal stability and solve the photo-instability and small-scale synthesis problems. In parallel, we have developed a new generation of magneto motive PA featuring cyclic magnetic motion and ultrasound speckle tracking (USST), whose imaging capture frame rate is several hundred times faster than the PA speckle tracking method we demonstrated previously. These advances enable robust artifact elimination caused by physiologic motions and first application of the mmPA technology for in vivo sensitive tumor imaging.

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High-resolution MRI and IR diagnostic imaging enabled by a novel biocompatible & biodegradable nano-platform
Rodney Ho                                   Nova TheraNostics & UW

We accidentally discovered a set of biocompatible lipids and a unique process that stabilize nano-structures of drugs and metal chelates in storage, in serum and across many animal species. The nano-platform overcomes drug solubility, enhances gadolinium (Gd) relativity for MRI, and avoids predominant liver and phagocyte uptake, typically detected with most nanoparticle formulations. The Gd-lipid nanoparticle called NTN-101 technology (supported in part by Nova TheraNostics, Life-Science Discovery Fund and UW) has been shown to provide ultra-high resolution Gd contrast-enhanced MRI capable of diagnostic imaging of lung capillaries, which is unattainable with current agents. The same platform is capable to overcome the time- and diffusion-dependent image degradation of infrared diagnostic imaging. The multi-modal capabilities of the biocompatible and degradable platform could provide high-resolution diagnostic imaging for early medical interventions.

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Molecular Biophotonics for Cancer Detection and Surgical Guidance
Jonathan Liu                UW Molecular Biophotonics Lab

The molecular biophotonics lab, directed by Dr. Jonathan Liu, is developing optical strategies for cancer diagnostics and therapy. These endeavors require multi-disciplinary advances in optical devices, contrast agents, image processing, and preclinical/clinical studies. For example, over the past few years, the lab has developed miniaturized optical-sectioning microscopes and functional contrast agents to enable real-time point-of-care pathology. In addition, the lab is developing spectral imaging devices in conjunction with Raman-coded nanoparticles for the visualization of large panels of disease biomarkers.  These advances have the potential to revolutionize patient care by enabling early cancer detection and intraoperative guidance of tumor-resection procedures.

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Microbubbles and Targeted Contrast Agents
Suzie Pun and Kevin Tan        UW Pun Lab

The Pun lab is develops bioinspired materials for biomedical applications. This talk with highlight our work in targeted imaging agents and in microbubble and ultrasound-mediated delivery of nucleic acids to the brain.

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Multicolor Molecular Imaging in the Human for GI Cancer Surveillance
Eric Seibel                                   UW Human Photonics Lab

Esophageal adenocarcinoma is the cancer with the fastest rising rate in the USA. One challenge is detecting the sites of pre-cancer which are endoscopically invisible. Our solution is to use fluorescence peptide molecular probes and multicolor laser scanning endoscopes.

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Session II : Integrated Imaging / Therapy

 

Technology Commercialization - OCT from Research Concept to Mainstream Product
Matt Everett                 Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.

Researchers often ask how they can get their technologies into medical practice. This isn’t easy – even transformative technologies like optical coherence tomography have a long road from the researcher’s lab to becoming a diagnostic gold standard. By telling the story of OCT I hope to provide a sense of what is involved.

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Challenges with X-ray Guided Multi-Needle Tumor Ablation
Onno Wink                    Philips

In an ideal world the interventional radiologist is able to plan their next day intervention on a pre-operative dataset from his/her home office. The amount, type and location of the different needles will then transfer to the operating theater with a simple registration step, while the needles can be inserted according to plan using a variety of real time imaging modalities and the effect of treatment directly assessed. In this presentation I will focus on some of the difficulties that come along the way in a the real world and will identifying several areas of improvement.

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Challenges and Opportunities for Imaging in Radiation Therapy
Matt Nyflot                   UW Radiation Oncology

Radiation therapy is used to treat roughly 50% of patients with cancer and imaging is an integral component of the radiation oncology process. This talk will provide an overview of the current state of the art of imaging throughout the radiotherapy process and highlight related challenges and opportunities that exist for clinical care.

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Ultrasound Mediated Drug Delivery
Ine De Cock                   UW Averkiou Lab

Localized drug delivery and uptake can benefit from the combined action of ultrasound and microbubbles at a specific site. Some of the possible mechanisms suggested are vessel and/or cell poration, but still the exact acoustic parameters that trigger those phenomena remain unknown. Ex-vivo machine perfusion of human-sized organs is a technique that provides an ideal environment for preclinical investigations with high physiological relevance not possible with in-vitro experiments. In this work, ex-vivo machine-perfused pig livers combined with an image-guided therapy system were used to investigate microvascular flow changes caused by the interaction of ultrasound driven microbubbles with the vasculature. The effect of acoustic pressure (1.7 – 4 MPa peak negative pressures) and the number of cycles (1000 or 20 cycles) were examined. Perfusion changes due to the action of ultrasound on microbubbles in the microcirculation were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed with Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) and were used as a metric of the extend of vessel perforation and thus extravasation. Areas that were exposed to peak negative pressure above 1.7 MPa showed a detectable and irreversible perfusion change. Complete devascularization of the area exposed to ultrasound was observed at much larger acoustic pressures (~4 MPa). Shorter acoustic pulses (20 cycles) produced markedly less perfusion changes than longer pulses (1000 cycles) under the same acoustic amplitude exposure.

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Opening the Blood Brain Barrier to Deliver Chemotherapy Drugs to Brain Cancer
Jeff Powers                   Philips

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain from invading bacteria and viruses, but prevents potentially life-saving drugs from attacking brain cancers.  The vibrations of microbubbles in an ultrasound field can temporarily open the BBB allowing the drugs to enter the tumor and improve patient outcomes.  The ability to focus the ultrasound on the tumor improves the selectivity.  This talk will explore some recent developments in this emerging field.

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Session III : Therapy Response Assessment

 

Advanced MRI to Evaluate Response to Breast Cancer Therapy
Savannah Partridge    SCCA & UW 

Our work focuses on development of robust quantitative imaging biomarkers to assess and predict response to breast cancer therapy. Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques provide unique characterization of tumor physiologic properties in vivo. In particular, dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI reflects tumor perfusion and diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI reflects cellularity and microstructure. Promising research suggests that these functional imaging methods can reflect treatment response early in the course of therapy, prior to changes in lesion size, and may play a valuable role in personalizing therapies.

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OCT Angiography: A Journey from Idea to Commercialization
Utkarsh Sharma          Optovue

I started working on the problem of visualizing microvasculature in the eye using OCT, OCT angiography, when I moved to industry in 2010 from academia. I had the opportunity to lead this development effort both as an individual contributor in the early stages and later as the project leader of the R&D team that advanced OCTA from concept stage to new product development and commercialization. I would like to share my experiences about the challenges that we faced towards making this technology ready for clinical use and how we solved them. 

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Ultrasound Fusion as the Opportunity to Deliver Precision Cancer Treatment
Andy Milkowski           Siemens R&D

Ultrasound has the advantage of being widely used, non-ionizing, often non-contrast and real time imaging modality. However, there are many other exciting developments from modeling to other modalities that ultrasound should leverage and magnify. Ultrasound Fusion, as a general term, is argued to be the largest opportunity to bring all other developments and tools to deliver precision cancer treatment.

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Quantitative Dual-Mode Scanner for Breast Cancer Therapy Assessment
William Hunter            PET/X  & UW IRL

World wide there are 1.5 million new breast cancer patients each year seeking effective treatment, 200 thousand of these are in the US alone. PET/X LLC is developing an instrument to quickly and accurately determine the best course of adjuvant therapy for each breast-cancer patient. There are over 30 available therapies and picking the right one is crucial. The current selection process fails half the time and takes many months of tracking macroscopic tumor size to reveal this failure. In contrast, a PETx scanner will accurately reveal therapeutic efficacy within a week or two by measuring metabolic response at a molecular level. Rapid identification of the best available therapy prevents the delay, complications, and cost of ineffective treatments. While the potential net health-care cost savings with PET/X would be billions of dollars per year, the value added to improved patient care would be immeasurable.

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Fluorescence image guided surgery
Perry Frederick                           GE

Fluorescence image guided surgery (FIGS) improves intraoperative visualization of critical structures, with applications spanning neurology, cardiology and oncology.  Over the last decade, FIGS has seen tremendous growth, with new contrast agents and instruments systematically advancing from benchtop to bedside.  Clinical translation of FIGS requires the development of targeted contrast agents, coupled with instrumentation for intraoperative imaging. This presentation will give an overview of our ongoing efforts to bring FIGS into the clinic, with particular emphasis on minimally invasive nerve sparing surgery.

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