# Developing informatics tools for optimized MRS for brain cancer research

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2022 · $380,671

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This project proposes to develop methods for automated, real-time, single-voxel magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (MRS) in brain tumors, integrate these methods with a clinical MRI system, evaluate their
performance, and distribute them as open-source tools to the research community. MRS can provide metabolic
information noninvasively for assessment of tumor phenotype and therapeutic response. Single-voxel MRS
methods provide the best quality and most reliable data, but require the scanner operator to have a high skill
level and expertise to produce good quality results. The need for this expert involvement in both acquisition
and processing remains a critical barrier to the translation of MRS methods to clinical research sites without
spectroscopy experts and to clinical practice. The first part of this project is to develop a method for 3D voxel
placement using image guidance, integrate this method with a clinical MR system, and evaluate its
performance. In the second part, we will automate our advanced MRS methods. In the third part, we will create
real-time, automatic quantification tool specific to the obtained MRS data that will provide clinically interpretable
results. We identified collaborators, the brain cancer researchers and clinicians, who will be early adopters and
beta-testers of our tools. Successful completion of this project will improve data robustness and quality,
eliminating the need for the expert interaction at the time of the scan and enabling adoption of MRS in multi-
site clinical trials and clinical practice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10413712
- **Project number:** 1U01CA269110-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Malgorzata Marjanska
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $380,671
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-07 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10413712

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10413712, Developing informatics tools for optimized MRS for brain cancer research (1U01CA269110-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10413712. Licensed CC0.

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