Acute MR-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Lesion Assessment Using Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and Histological Analysis

Non-contrast enhanced MRI for efficiency evaluation of high-intensity focused ultrasound in adenomyosis ablation

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the value of T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in evaluating the therapeutic effect of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in adenomyosis ablation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

One hundred eighty-nine patients with adenomyosis were treated with HIFU. The ablation areas on T2WI and DWI sequences were classified into different types: type I, relatively ill-defined rim or unrecognizable; subtype IIa, well-defined rim with hyperintensity; subtype IIb, well-defined rim with hypointensity. The volume of ablation areas on T2WI (VT2WI) and DWI (VDWI) was measured and compared with the non-perfused volume (NPV), and linear regression was conducted to analyze their correlation with NPV.

RESULTS

The VT2WI of type I and type II (subtype IIa and subtype IIb) were statistically different from the corresponding NPV (p = 0.004 and 0.024, respectively), while no significant difference was found between the VDWI of type I and type II with NPV (p = 0.478 and 0.561, respectively). In the linear regression analysis, both VT2WI and VDWI were positively correlated with NPV, with R2 reaching 0.96 and 0.97, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Both T2WI and DWI have the potential for efficient evaluation of HIFU treatment in adenomyosis, and DWI can be a replacement for CE-T1WI to some extent.

Diffusion-weighted MRI with deep learning for visualizing treatment results of MR-guided HIFU ablation of uterine fibroids

OBJECTIVES

No method is available to determine the non-perfused volume (NPV) repeatedly during magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) ablations of uterine fibroids, as repeated acquisition of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (CE-T1w) scans is inhibited by safety concerns. The objective of this study was to develop and test a deep learning-based method for translation of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) into synthetic CE-T1w scans, for monitoring MR-HIFU treatment progression.

METHODS

The algorithm was retrospectively trained and validated on data from 33 and 20 patients respectively who underwent an MR-HIFU treatment of uterine fibroids between June 2017 and January 2019. Postablation synthetic CE-T1w images were generated by a deep learning network trained on paired DWI and reference CE-T1w scans acquired during the treatment procedure. Quantitative analysis included calculation of the Dice coefficient of NPVs delineated on synthetic and reference CE-T1w scans. Four MR-HIFU radiologists assessed the outcome of MR-HIFU treatments and NPV ratio based on the synthetic and reference CE-T1w scans.

RESULTS

Dice coefficient of NPVs was 71% (± 22%). The mean difference in NPV ratio was 1.4% (± 22%) and not statistically significant (p = 0.79). Absolute agreement of the radiologists on technical treatment success on synthetic and reference CE-T1w scans was 83%. NPV ratio estimations on synthetic and reference CE-T1w scans were not significantly different (p = 0.27).

CONCLUSIONS

Deep learning-based synthetic CE-T1w scans derived from intraprocedural DWI allow gadolinium-free visualization of the predicted NPV, and can potentially be used for repeated gadolinium-free monitoring of treatment progression during MR-HIFU therapy for uterine fibroids.

KEY POINTS

• Synthetic CE-T1w scans can be derived from diffusion-weighted imaging using deep learning. • Synthetic CE-T1w scans may be used for visualization of the NPV without using a contrast agent directly after MR-HIFU ablations of uterine fibroids.

Intraoperative lesion characterization after focused ultrasound thalamotomy

OBJECTIVE

Outcomes after focused ultrasound ablation (FUSA) for essential tremor remain heterogeneous, despite therapeutic promise. Clinical outcomes are directly related to the volume and location of the therapeutic lesions, consistent with CNS ablative therapies. Recent data demonstrate that postoperative diffusion MRI, specifically the quantification of intracellular diffusion by restricted diffusion imaging (RDI), can accurately characterize focused ultrasound lesions. However, it is unclear whether RDI can reliably detect focused ultrasound lesions intraoperatively (i.e., within a few minutes of lesioning) and whether the intraoperative lesions predict delayed clinical outcomes.

METHODS

An intraoperative imaging protocol was implemented that included RDI and T2-weighted imaging in addition to intraoperative MR thermography. Lesion characteristics were defined with each sequence and then compared. An imaging-outcomes analysis was performed to determine lesion characteristics associated with delayed clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

Intraoperative RDI accurately identified the volume and location of focused ultrasound lesions. Intraoperative T2-weighted imaging underestimated the lesion volume but accurately identified the location. Intraoperative RDI revealed that lesions of the ventral border of the ventral intermediate nucleus were significantly associated with postoperative tremor improvement. In contrast, the lesions extending into the inferolateral white matter were associated with postoperative ataxia.

CONCLUSIONS

These data support the acquisition of intraoperative RDI to characterize focused ultrasound lesions. Future research should test the histological correlates of intraoperative RDI and test whether it can be developed as feedback to optimize the current technique of FUSA.

Neuropathology of Parkinson's disease after focused ultrasound thalamotomy

Focused ultrasound (FUS) thalamotomy is an emerging treatment for tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease (PD). We report the first postmortem neuropathologic study of FUS thalamotomy in a 68-year-old man with tremor-dominant PD, which was performed seven months before he died. Although the peak voxel temperature at the target was <54 °C, his tremor improved on intraoperative and postoperative assessments. Additionally, postoperative MRI demonstrated a thalamic lesion. Lewy body-related pathology consistent with PD was detected. There was also a 5-mm lesion in the ventral lateral thalamus characterized by demyelination and neuropil loss, with many lipid-laden macrophages, but no lymphocytic infiltrates and relatively preserved neurons and axons. Additional pathological assessments after FUS thalamotomy are needed to determine if the observed brain changes are typical of this procedure.

A Review of Imaging Methods to Assess Ultrasound-Mediated Ablation

Ultrasound ablation techniques are minimally invasive alternatives to surgical resection and have rapidly increased in use. The response of tissue to HIFU ablation differs based on the relative contributions of thermal and mechanical effects, which can be varied to achieve optimal ablation parameters for a given tissue type and location. In tumor ablation, similar to surgical resection, it is desirable to include a safety margin of ablated tissue around the entirety of the tumor. A factor in optimizing ablative techniques is minimizing the recurrence rate, which can be due to incomplete ablation of the target tissue. Further, combining focal ablation with immunotherapy is likely to be key for effective treatment of metastatic cancer, and therefore characterizing the impact of ablation on the tumor microenvironment will be important. Thus, visualization and quantification of the extent of ablation is an integral component of ablative procedures. The aim of this review article is to describe the radiological findings after ultrasound ablation across multiple imaging modalities. This review presents readers with a general overview of the current and emerging imaging methods to assess the efficacy of ultrasound ablative treatments.

MR relaxation properties of tissue-mimicking phantoms

High quality tissue-mimicking phantoms (TMPs) have a critical role in the preclinical testing of emerging modalities for diagnosis and therapy. TMPs capable of accurately mimicking real tissue in Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) applications should be fabricated with precise T1 and T2 relaxation times. Given the current popularity of the MRgFUS technology, we herein performed a systematic review on the MR relaxation properties of different phantoms types. Polyacrylamide (PAA) and agar based phantoms were proven capable of accurately replicating critical thermal, acoustical, and MR relaxation properties of various body tissues. Although gelatin phantoms were also proven factional in this regard, they lack the capacity to withstand ablation temperatures, and thus, are only recommended for hyperthermia applications. Other gelling agents identified in the literature are Poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), silicone, and TX-150/ TX-151; however, their efficacy in thermal studies is yet to be established. PAA gels are favorable in that they offer optical transparency enabling direct visualization of coagulative lesions. On the other hand, agar phantoms have lower preparation costs and were proven very promising for use with the MRgFUS technology, without the toxicity issues related to the preparation and storage of PAA materials. Remarkably, agar turned out to be the prominent modifier of the T2 relaxation time even for phantoms containing other types of gelling agents instead of agar. This review could be useful in manufacturing realistic MRgFUS phantoms while simultaneously indicating an opportunity for further research in the field with a particular focus on the MR behavior of agar-based TMPs.

Transcranial Magnetic Resonance-Guided Histotripsy for Brain Surgery: Pre-clinical Investigation

Histotripsy has been previously applied to target various cranial locations in vitro through an excised human skull. Recently, a transcranial magnetic resonance (MR)-guided histotripsy (tcMRgHt) system was developed, enabling pre-clinical investigations of tcMRgHt for brain surgery. To determine the feasibility of in vivo transcranial histotripsy, tcMRgHt treatment was delivered to eight pigs using a 700-kHz, 128-element, MR-compatible phased-array transducer inside a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. After craniotomy to open an acoustic window to the brain, histotripsy was applied through an excised human calvarium to target the inside of the pig brain based on pre-treatment MRI and fiducial markers. MR images were acquired pre-treatment, immediately post-treatment and 2-4 h post-treatment to evaluate the acute treatment outcome. Successful histotripsy ablation was observed in all pigs. The MR-evident lesions were well confined within the targeted volume, without evidence of excessive brain edema or hemorrhage outside of the target zone. Histology revealed tissue homogenization in the ablation zones with a sharp demarcation between destroyed and unaffected tissue, which correlated well with the radiographic treatment zones on MRI. These results are the first to support the in vivo feasibility of tcMRgHt in the pig brain, enabling further investigation of the use of tcMRgHt for brain surgery.