Anant Madabhushi, associate professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics (CCIPD), has been awarded a National Institutes of Health R21 Quick Clinical Trials grant for his project titled “Decision Support for MRI Guidance and Evaluation of Laser Ablation of Prostate Cancer.”
In collaboration with interventional radiologist Dan Sperling from the New Jersey Institute of Radiology, Madabhushi and his team will develop and apply advanced computerized image analysis and pattern recognition methods for targeting the focal lesion via laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), a novel focal ablative therapy for treating low to intermediate risk of prostate cancers.
During the course of this two year, $540,000 project, Madabhushi and his team which includes Satish Viswanath, assistant research professor of biomedical engineering and at the CCIPD, also will develop computerized image analysis methods for quantitatively evaluating imaging marker changes to assess treatment response after LITT.
Madabhushi and Sperling expect to enroll 30 patients during the course of this clinical trial, which is being sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.