Field-Cycling imaging detects brain tumours at low magnetic field strengths

Motivation: Field Cycling Imaging (FCI) is a new imaging modality that shows high potential in brain glioma from ex-vivo studies. Goal(s): Our goal was to demonstrate the capabilities of FCI as an imaging modality to detect brain cancer in vivo. Approach: Nine patients were imaged with our recent FCI prototype scanner using fields from 0.2 to 200mT. T1 images were compared with standard 1.5T MRI clinical images. Results: Tissue contrast appeared between tumours and uninvolved tissues that agreed with ex-vivo results, showing biomarkers of aquaporins activity. This discriminated gliomas from peritumoural regions, as well as gliomas from meningiomas. Impact: FCI can detect brain tumour and discriminates glioma from meningioma. Tissue dispersion may also be a marker of aggressiveness. These offer interesting prospects for clinical applications.