# Improved temperature and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging specific for hyperthermia treatment monitoring and assessment

> **NIH NIH F30** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2020 · $47,871

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
This research is a vital part of making targeted-hyperthermia treatments for cancer therapy clinically viable. For
treatment monitoring and efficacy assessment, interstitial temperature probe readings are the current standard
metric. However, temperature probes are invasive, prone to infection, and provide a limited sampling of the
tumor volume. Magnetic resonance temperature imaging (MRTI) has the potential to alleviate these
shortcomings: (1) 3D volumetric temperature measurements can provide coverage of both the tumor volume
and surrounding critical structures; (2) measurement is completely noninvasive—patient discomfort and
complications due to interstitial temperature probes are eliminated. While MRTI has achieved widespread use
for short-duration high-temperature ablative thermal therapies, treatment-monitoring requirements for
hyperthermia are significantly different. Robustly monitoring a small temperature rise (several degrees Celsius)
over a long hyperthermia treatment period (60-90 minutes) is not feasible in many anatomic locations with
current techniques. Patient motion, field drift, treatment induced susceptibility change, and other systemic
errors can confound MRTI. A key aim of this proposal is to develop a stable and effective MRTI technique for
hyperthermia treatment monitoring in the breast. Temperature is not the only plausible metric for predicting
tumor response to hyperthermia. Increased tumor oxygenation and perfusion are known to sensitize tumors to
radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This proposal will develop and test the use of quantitative magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) to assess hyperthermia-induced changes in tumor oxygenation and perfusion. The
overarching goal of this proposal is to accelerate the adoption of mild-hyperthermia for cancer therapy by
providing non-invasive multi-parametric MRI techniques for treatment monitoring and efficacy assessment. The
project consists of three specific aims to achieve this goal: 1) Develop stable, hyperthermia dedicated method
for 3D temperature measurement in tissues containing aqueous and adipose tissues; 2) Develop quantitative
MRI techniques to measure hyperthermia induced changes in tumor oxygenation and perfusion; 3) Evaluate
developed thermometry and quantitative MRI techniques during a hyperthermia heating protocol in a preclinical
tumor model.
RELEVANCE TO PUBLIC HEALTH: Phase III clinical trials have demonstrated that hyperthermia when
combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy leads improves local control and/or survival for a number of
cancers. Technical developments proposed in this application will accelerate the adoption of these cancer-
fighting therapies by providing non-invasive techniques that are better tolerated by patients and provide
superior prognostic measures and treatment monitoring capabilities. Software and techniques developed under
this project will be freely shared on Github to help enable and accelerate the adoption of eff...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9893833
- **Project number:** 5F30CA228363-03
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Lorne Wyatt Hofstetter
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $47,871
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-02 → 2023-04-01

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9893833

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9893833, Improved temperature and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging specific for hyperthermia treatment monitoring and assessment (5F30CA228363-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9893833. Licensed CC0.

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