AI research to evaluate and predict treatment success ablation treatment liver tumors

Kristian Overduin has received a 492,000 euro research grant from the Hanarth Fund for the AI-IMAGINE project. With this he will develop AI methods for automated evaluation and prediction of treatment success during minimally invasive ablation treatment of liver tumors.

Thermal ablation is a minimally invasive treatment in early-stage liver tumors and metastases. Compared to surgery, ablation is safer, cheaper and associated with faster recovery, however local recurrence rates tend to be higher, leading to unwanted re-treatments and limiting its use as primary treatment. Prior studies have demonstrated quantitative 3D treatment margins derived from intraprocedural computed tomography (CT) images to accurately predict the risk of local recurrence after thermal ablation of liver tumors. However, traditional image analysis methods to derive the treatment margin are subjective and time-consuming, limiting its generalizability and intra-operative applicability.

The AI-IMAGINE project will investigate AI to develop an automated method for intra-operative evaluation of treatment margins and prediction of treatment success in thermal ablation treatment of liver tumors. This empowers clinicians to better assess treatment success during the actual treatment itself and, in future patients, allow immediate corrective treatment. Hereby, we expect to reduce local recurrence rates and avoid unnecessary re-treatments. Ultimately, we aim at offering patients a minimally invasive treatment that is as effective as surgery, but is safer, cheaper and has less patient impact.

The AI-IMAGINE project (Automated Intraoperative assessment of IMAGINg Endpoints for first-time right liver thermal ablation) is an international collaboration between the Minimally Invasive Image-guided Interventions (MAGIC) and Diagnostic Image Analysis (DIAG) group at Radboudumc and several academic institutions (Leiden UMC, Amsterdam UMC and Medical University Innsbruck, Fraunhofer MEVIS).

The Hanarth Fonds was founded on September 28, 2018, using the legacy of Arthur del Prado, founder and former CEO of ASM International. The fund aims to promote and enhance the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of patients with cancer. Therefore the Hanarth Fonds supports scientific research that focuses on primarily, but not exclusively, rare types of cancer. More information here.