image: (Conventional) magnetic resonance temperature map obtained during hyperthermia therapy of a soft tissue sarcoma tumor in a human calf muscle (marked by a "1"). The color overlay in orange has an intensity proportional to the temperature, which, in this case was raised about 6 degrees Celcius in the tumor (above body temperature) for about 40 minutes. The leg is surrounded by water contained in a cylinder on which the radiofrequency (140MHz at 100W) heating antennae are placed. (courtesy of Mark Dewhirst, Brian Soher, James MacFall, Duke University and NIH grant CA42745). Measurements of absolute temperature and removal of interference from susceptibility effects, as described in the Science paper by Galiana et. al., should improve the accuracy and reproducibility of thermal dosing in these therapies. This image relates to an article that appeared in the Oct. 17, 2008, issue of Science , published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Gigi Galiana and colleagues at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J., was titled "Accurate Temperature Imaging Based on Intermolecular Coherences in Magnetic Resonance." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Mark Dewhirst, Brian Soher, James MacFall, Duke University