Abstract #3631

Tissue Expansion Maps (TEMs) Derived from Nonlinear Registration of Serial 3D MR Scans as an Imaging Biomarker for Detecting Brain Tumor Invasion and Quantifying Tumor Response to Therapy

Benjamin M. Ellingson¹,², Timothy F. Cloughesy³, Robert J. Harris¹, Davis C. Woodworth¹, Kevin Leu¹, Albert Lai³, Phioanh (Leia) Nghiemphu³, Whitney B. Pope¹

¹Dept. of Radiological Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ²Biomedical Physics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ³Neurology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Expert radiologists and neuro-oncologists can identify subtle growth in the tumor through visual examination of the mass effect on serial MR scans; however, these evaluations are subjective and are not quantitative. The current study involves the development of a new class of imaging biomarkers that quantify parameters associated tissue deformation fields derived from serial nonlinear (elastic) registration of high-resolution post-contrast T1-weighted images in patients with glioblastoma. Tissue Expansion Maps (TEMs) that quantify the local tissue displacement velocity and local distortion vector field maps were can be used to detect new tumor invasion and understand patterns in tumor growth and infiltration.