RESEARCH ARTICLE Identifying MRI Markers Associated with Early Response following Laser Ablation for Neurological Disorders: Preliminary Findings

There is a renewed interest in MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) as a minimally invasive alternative to craniotomy for local treatment of various brain tumors and epilepsy. LITT allows for focused delivery of laser energy monitored in real time by MRI, for precise ablation of the lesion. Although highly promising, the long-term effects of laser ablation as a viable treatment option for neurological disorders have yet to be rigorously studied and quantified. In this work, we present a quantitative framework for monitoring per-voxel thermal-induced changes post-LITT over time on multi parametric MRI. We demonstrate that voxel-by-voxel quantification of MRI markers over time can enable a careful and accurate (a) characterization of early LITT-related changes (if and when they are exaggerated and when they subside), and (b) identification and monitoring of MRI markers that potentially allow for better quantification of response to LITT therapy. The framework was evaluated on two distinct cohorts of patients (GBM, epilepsy), who were monitored post-LITT at regular time-intervals via multi-parametric MRI. On