Tumor Imaging analyzes MRI image data to assess blood vessels in cancer tumors. Cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow out of control. Tumors can develop a network of new blood vessels in a process known as angiogenesis. This network supplies the tumor with nutrients and oxygen enabling the tumor to keep growing and spreading. The only ways to assess blood vessel architecture are to take a biopsy, a surgical procedure that can harm patients and often cannot be repeated; or PET scanning, which provides limited information and exposes patients to a dose of radiation. Taking advantage of a previously overlooked feature of MRI scans, the scientists developed and tested a new way of analyzing MRI data, which they termed vessel architectural imaging (VAI). VAI involves a single MRI exam that takes less than 2 minutes and, in most cases, can safely be repeated many times.
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