Topographic Mapping of MRI and MRS Data in Brain Tumours Assessment

Abstract

About 29,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumours in Europe each year. Their prognosis and handling largely depends on the type and grade of tumour involved. The early and accurate detection and diagnosis of the tumour is very critical to the prognosis of these patients. To diagnose brain tumours, physicians can use several methods. Among these are Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) which have received considerable attention of late as they involve almost no risks for the patients. However, these techniques generate a very large amount of data not very easily interpreted by the clinician. In this thesis, we are looking at the usefulness of applying topographic mapping on MRI and MRSI (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Imaging or Multi-voxel MRS) data in assessing brain tumours and comparing the use of topographic mapping and clustering/classification on these kinds of data in brain tumour assessment.