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Image Guided Therapy Prostate Group
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Featured Image: MR-guided prostate interventions
At top right, the 3D Slicer software platform used for MRI-guided biopsy. The 3D Slicer provides guidance and navigation during MRI-guided biopsy, allowing for multiplanar views of image volumes, target selection, and control of the MR scanner imaging plane. Here, T2W images obtained in the axial plane are shown. The control panel shown is used for slice selection to ensure that the real-time planar imaging obtained during needle insertion contains the desired target. On the left, a robotic assistant system for prostate intervention in a 3T closed-bore MRI scanner. The robot is placed between the patient’s legs and the MRI compatible mechanism (bottom right). The pneumatic actuator ensures no interference to MR images.
Magnetic Resonance Image-guided interventions have enormous potential to improve and advance the care of men with prostate cancer. However, there are clear limitations with the current methods of both prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. If non-invasive imaging can identify suspicious tumor foci in the gland with greater specificity, it may be used to direct more accurate prostate biopsies. A non-invasive biomarker of the tumor and its possible recurrence, combined with Prostate Specific Antigen detection methods would be a very powerful alternative to biopsy.