Image contrast in fluorescence and magnetic resonance images for glioblastoma detection

A diffusely infiltrative human glioma cell line (U251-GFP) has been developed and used as a model for the tumor growth outside of MR image detectable tumor boundary. The aminolevulinic acid-protoporphyrin IX (ALA-PpIX) fluorescence system has shown great strides for fluorescence guided surgical resection, but often fluorescence is observed outside of the MR image detectable tumor margin. Here we compare the use of ALA-PpIX fluorescence with that of standard gadolinium enhanced MR imaging as well as T2 and diffusion imaging to determine whether there is a correlation between fluorescence and MR imaging. We found that PpIX fluorescence, T1WCD and Absolute T2 images have the highest contrast difference from controls and are likely candidates for highly infiltrative tumor detection.