Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital recently announced that Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to detect early signs of tumor cell deaths. A novel virus-based cancer therapy can help point out tumor cell deaths when coupled with MRI and AI.
Virus-based cancer therapy is a new form of treatment that selectively kills cancer cells while not causing any damage to normal tissues. This form of therapy will drastically help in treating patients suffering from brain tumors. A non-invasive monitoring process has to be performed throughout the therapy to analyze and understand how the virus interacts with cancer cells.
Christian Farrar, Ph.D., and an investigator at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging said, “We programmed an MRI scanner to create unique signal ‘fingerprints’ for different molecular compounds and cellular pH. A deep learning neural network was then used to decode the fingerprints and generate quantitative pH and molecular maps.”
Read More: SenseTime to open new Artificial Intelligence Casino in Singapore
He further added that this new method of treatment was validated in mouse brain tumor research, where it was proven to be highly effective. The new MRI and AI-powered virus treatment method will drastically reduce the detection time of dangerous cancer cells.
However, the treatment procedure still has to be scrutinized, and further investigation will help researchers optimize the virus-based therapy. Researcher at Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Or Perlman, said, “One of the most interesting and key components for the success of this approach was the use of simulated molecular fingerprints to train the machine learning neural network.”
He also mentioned that this kind of treatment concept could revolutionize the healthcare industry by solving various medical and scientific challenges. The research work has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
