The Brain Imaging Collaboration Suite (BrICS): A Cloud Platform for Integrating Whole-Brain Spectroscopic MRI into the Radiation Therapy Planning Workflow.

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Saumya Gurbani, Emory University; Brent Weinberg, Emory University; Lee Cooper, Emory University; Eric Mellon, University of Miami; Eduard Schreibmann, Emory University; Sulaiman Sheriff, University of Miami; Andrew Maudsley, University of Miami; Mohammed Goryawala, University of Miami; Hui-Kuo Shu, Emory University; Hyunsuk Shim, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-03
• Publisher: Grapho Publications, LLC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 The Authors
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.18383/j.tom.2018.00028
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Tomography : a journal for imaging research
• ISSN: 2379-1381
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 184
• End Page: 191
• Grant/Funding Information: This work is funded by NIH grants U01CA172027, R01CA214557, U01EB028145, and F30CA206291.
• Keywords: radiation therapy; cloud platform; spectroscopic MRI
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Oncology; Health Sciences, Radiology; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

Glioblastoma has poor prognosis with inevitable local recurrence despite aggressive treatment with surgery and chemoradiation. Radiation therapy (RT) is typically guided by contrast-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for defining the high-dose target and T2-weighted fluid-attenuation inversion recovery MRI for defining the moderate-dose target. There is an urgent need for improved imaging methods to better delineate tumors for focal RT. Spectroscopic MRI (sMRI) is a quantitative imaging technique that enables whole-brain analysis of endogenous metabolite levels, such as the ratio of choline-to-N-acetylaspartate. Previous work has shown that choline-to-N-acetylaspartate ratio accurately identifies tissue with high tumor burden beyond what is seen on standard imaging and can predict regions of metabolic abnormality that are at high risk for recurrence. To facilitate efficient clinical implementation of sMRI for RT planning, we developed the Brain Imaging Collaboration Suite (BrICS; https://brainimaging.emory.edu/brics-demo), a cloud platform that integrates sMRI with standard imaging and enables team members from multiple departments and institutions to work together in delineating RT targets. BrICS is being used in a multisite pilot study to assess feasibility and safety of dose-escalated RT based on metabolic abnormalities in patients with glioblastoma (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03137888). The workflow of analyzing sMRI volumes and preparing RT plans is described. The pipeline achieved rapid turnaround time by enabling team members to perform their delegated tasks independently in BrICS when their clinical schedules allowed. To date, 18 patients have been treated using targets created in BrICS and no severe toxicities have been observed.