Early detection of high-grade malignancy, such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), using new contrast mechanism and enhanced MRI techniques significantly increases not only the treatment options available, but also the patients’ survival rate. For this purpose, the local magnetic-field gradient variations due to irregular water contents and deoxyhemoglobin concentration in early GBM is detected sensitively to provide the needed cancer contrast. Statistical results (N=22) for in vivo orthotopic xenografts GBM mouse models at various cancer stages validate the superior contrast and robustness of this approach (tumor time constant differs from that of the healthy brain tissue by +24%) towards early GBM detection than conventional T1-weighted (+2.6%) and T2-weighted images (-3.1%). This novel approach provides 4-8 times of improvements in early GBM tumor contrast, as measured by "tumor to normal tissue contrast", “contrast-to-noise ratio” (CNR) or “Visibility”.
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