MR thermometry in adipose tissue & lesion tattooing in breast tissue
Research type
Research Study
Full title
MR thermometry during MRgFUS in adipose tissue and MRgFUS artificial lesion tattooing in the breast
IRAS ID
166495
Contact name
Peter Gibbs
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
MRgFUS of the breast employs MR images to plan treatment for, and monitor tissue temperature during, the thermal ablation of tumours using focused ultrasound energy. A major drawback of MRgFUS treatments is the relatively long procedure time. MRgFUS of a 2 cm diameter tumour can require numerous individual sonications and take up to 2-3 hours for complete ablation.
There is currently no method available to monitor temperature changes of adipose tissue. This results in extended treatment times as conservative waiting times between sonications are used to ensure adequate skin and sub-cutaneous fat cooling. By utilising excess fresh adipose tissue from deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstructions or breast tissue from gender reassignment patients this study aims to quantify T2 (an MRI tissue property) changes on tissue heating. By characterising these changes, and thus developing a method of monitoring sub-cutaneous fat temperature, it is envisaged that cooling times and consequently treatment times can be reduced for future patients undergoing MRgFUS treatments.
Even with the possibility of reduced treatment times via improved knowledge of adipose tissue heating the procedure can be quite lengthy. The focal spots are of 5-6 mm in size so complete ablation of large tumours becomes problematic. An alternative approach is to effectively delineate the tumour borders to aid surgical excision which is heavily dependent on tissue palpation. By placing a series of sonication spots, defining a few mm margin around the lesion, the stiffness of the area to be resected is increased thus improving palpability. Artificial lesions will be introduced into intact healthy breast specimens from patients undergoing female to male gender reassignment. The MRgFUS system will then be used to ablate tissue surrounding this artificial lesion. Finally, in this proof of concept study, surgical removal of lesions will be performed by an experienced breast surgeon.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0013
Date of REC Opinion
18 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion