히알루론산 기능화 자성나노입자를 이용한 위암 초단 에코시간 MRI 라디오믹스 분석

Abstract

Gastric cancer remains one of the most prevalent and deadly malignancies worldwide, with high incidence and mortality rates. Early detection and accurate diagnosis are critical for improving patient outcomes. However, conventional diagnostic methods, such as endoscopy and tissue biopsy, are invasive and may fail to detect subtle or early-stage lesions, particularly those confined to the submucosal layer. This underscores the pressing need for non-invasive, high-resolution molecular imaging techniques. In this study, we employed hyaluronic acid-coated monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles (HA-MNPs) as a molecular imaging probe targeting CD44 receptors, which are overexpressed in gastric cancer cells. To overcome the limitations of traditional T2-weighted Turbo Spin Echo (T2TE) imaging-namely, motion artifacts caused by gastric peristalsis and respiration-we utilized ultra-short echo time (UTE) imaging to enhance signal acquisition and image quality. To compare the diagnostic efficacy of UTE and T2TE imaging modalities, we performed a comprehensive radiomic analysis. Radiomics enables the extraction of high-dimensional quantitative features from medical images, capturing subtle spatial patterns that can be predictive of tumor biology and clinical outcomes. Our results demonstrate that UTE-based molecular MRI (mMRI) using HA-MNPs holds significant potential for early diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of gastric cancer. The radiomic analysis revealed marked differences in spatial frequency characteristics between the two imaging modalities: T2TE images exhibited higher contrast, while UTE images showed greater homogeneity and spatial correlation. These findings suggest that UTE imaging may offer improved diagnostic robustness by mitigating the influence of motion artifacts and enhancing lesion characterization. In conclusion, our study highlights the potential of HA-MNPs-enhanced UTE molecular MRI as a promising non-invasive tool for the assessment of gastric cancer in a murine model, offering distinct advantages from a radiomic perspective.