Download Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging PhD thesis defense 9:00 – 11

Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging
PhD thesis defense
9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 12, 2017
3210 Seamans Center
Title: “Longitudinal Medical Imaging Approaches for Characterization of Porcine
Cancer Models”
Speaker: Emily Hammond, PhD candidate, Department of Biomedical
Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Abstract: Cancer is the second deadliest disease in the United States with an
estimated 1.69 million new cases in 2017. Medical imaging systems are widely used in
clinical medicine to non-invasively identify, diagnosis, plan treatment, and monitor
tumors within the body. Advances in imaging research related to cancer assessment
have largely relied on consented human patients, often including varied populations and
treatments. Tumor bearing mouse models have been highly valued for basic science
research, but imaging focused applications are limited by the direct application of
developed techniques. Pig models are well suited to bridge the gap between human
patients and mouse models due to their biological similarly to humans. These models
will allow researchers to methodically cross compare state of the art medical imaging
procedure related to the early detection, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment planning
of cancer with direct application to clinical medicine.
In this thesis, we have developed methods for longitudinal tracking of disease
development in four tumor prone pig models using current clinical method imaging
systems, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Following image acquisition, a reporting system was constructed for consistent, visual
interpretation of images, image alignment was performed on identified tumors, and
imaging characteristics were automatically extracted from tumors. Methods were
applied to tumor prone pigs with additional exposure to known cancer causing agents.
Detected cancers included bone and kidney tumors and lymphoma, and anticipated
development of lung and pancreatic tumors.