Hunting for Lesions
Welcome back to my blog! I've been very busy this past week, mainly sorting through MRI scans. I finally got the hang of the ImageJ software, and my mentor returned on Tuesday to walk me through the process.
My task for each MRI scan is to scroll through the many cross-sectional images in search for legions, which may indicate the presence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). I then mark these lesions as a region of interest and compare it to a separate region of interest located in normal liver tissue, which acts as a control. For each patient, I examine multiple MRI scans: Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC), Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), Axial In-phase, Axial Out-phase, Axial Pre/Post-phase LAVA, and Axial T2. Each one reveals a different perspective, emphasizing certain features over others.
Liver lesions can be difficult to locate. They usually appear as a mis-colored blob that appears and fades away as you scroll through the images, but the distinction can vary depending on the type of MRI scan you're looking at. In some scans, like the Axial Phase 1 scan, lesions are very easy to spot. However, in others, like the ADC and DWI scans, lesions are sometimes nearly invisible to the naked eye, which is why it is important to match the different scans together and reference between them. This is what a typical lesion looks like (circled in red).
I learned a lot of anatomy in my efforts to identify cancerous legions. Knowing the general location of all the major blood vessels and organs in the torso is very helpful when you're trying to find something that stands out from the usual. For the most part, everything has gone smoothly so far, but there were a few scans for which I could not identify lesions. I am hoping that my mentor can help verify my work next week.
I also found this haunting image when I was scrolling through a patient's MRI scans.
My task for each MRI scan is to scroll through the many cross-sectional images in search for legions, which may indicate the presence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). I then mark these lesions as a region of interest and compare it to a separate region of interest located in normal liver tissue, which acts as a control. For each patient, I examine multiple MRI scans: Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC), Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), Axial In-phase, Axial Out-phase, Axial Pre/Post-phase LAVA, and Axial T2. Each one reveals a different perspective, emphasizing certain features over others.
Liver lesions can be difficult to locate. They usually appear as a mis-colored blob that appears and fades away as you scroll through the images, but the distinction can vary depending on the type of MRI scan you're looking at. In some scans, like the Axial Phase 1 scan, lesions are very easy to spot. However, in others, like the ADC and DWI scans, lesions are sometimes nearly invisible to the naked eye, which is why it is important to match the different scans together and reference between them. This is what a typical lesion looks like (circled in red).
I learned a lot of anatomy in my efforts to identify cancerous legions. Knowing the general location of all the major blood vessels and organs in the torso is very helpful when you're trying to find something that stands out from the usual. For the most part, everything has gone smoothly so far, but there were a few scans for which I could not identify lesions. I am hoping that my mentor can help verify my work next week.
I also found this haunting image when I was scrolling through a patient's MRI scans.
Wow. That looks like Darth Vader ;) I know that it's against the law to post genetic sequences online because theoretically, one could identify the source of the genetic sequence. Is that not the case with radiological pictures?
ReplyDeleteMRIs seem hard to get that hang of. Good work getting it down!
ReplyDeleteThat MRI surprised me even though I knew it would be scary. Hopefully, experience will allow you to find the harder to spot lesions. Have you noticed anything different yet or will you be doing that some time later? How is your time at Mayo Clinic? It must be boring to look at multiple slides, trying to find a lesion.
ReplyDeleteHi, Richard. Did you also get that patient's midi-clorian count? It sounds like your project is going well. What was the hardest part of learning Image-J?
ReplyDeleteHi Richard! Is there any way to confuse a cancerous legion with a non-cancerous one? How can you tell the difference between the two? The MRI scans were really helpful. I hope you enjoyed your spring break!
ReplyDeleteHi Richard! Glad to hear that you are making progress with the MRI's! Can't wait for more!!
ReplyDeleteHey Richard! The MRI scans look really interesting, it's pretty cool how I can see the blood vessels and spleen. Does the size of the lesion mean that the cancer is more progressed?
ReplyDeleteHi Richard! Thank you for including the MRI scans! Is there a certain way you can tell if a legion is cancerous or not based on the MRI?
ReplyDelete