Thermal effect analysis of brain tumor on simulated T1-weighted MRI images

Abstract

This study analyzed the thermal effect of brain tumors on computer simulated MRI images. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an imaging technique that gives a large number of information on the observed tissues and tumors according to the nuclear magnetic resonance parameters. However, some of these parameters may vary depending on temperature. The temperature distribution is increased in the tumorous region compared to the surrounding normal tissues, which causes a significant change on MR parameters, the studied MR parameter in this work is spin lattice relaxation time T1. The problem is expressed mathematically and computer simulated T1-weighted images of realistic geometry of brain tissues containing a circular tumor are obtained using spin echo pulse sequence. The temperature distribution is calculated using Pennes bioheat transfer equation and implemented numerically by Finite Difference Method. Results show that heat generation by tumor has a significant impact on T1-weighted signal intensity.