Clinical translation of MR cytometry

The National Cancer Institute awarded $694,929 to Vanderbilt University Medical Center on July 15, 2026, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) to translate MR cytometry imaging into a clinical tool for cancer detection and diagnosis.

MR cytometry is a diffusion MRI-based imaging technique that non-invasively measures mean cell size in vivo. The award funds an academic-industrial partnership among Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of Washington in Seattle, and Philips Healthcare to optimize and implement MR cytometry imaging on Philips commercial MRI platforms. Specific deliverables include prototype development of the MR cytometry imaging tool with oscillating gradient spin echo sequences and automated data analyses integrated into Philips' clinical platform, and further protocol optimization for breast cancer assessment. The partnership builds on prior NIH-funded diffusion MRI research and a long-standing Vanderbilt-Philips collaboration to bring the imaging technique from academic research into widely deployable commercial systems.

Place of performance is Forest Hills, Tennessee. The period of performance runs from July 15, 2026, through June 30, 2031. The assistance type is a project grant.

Abstract

This academic-industrial partnership (AIP) grant aims to translate the MR cytometry imaging technique into a push-button imaging tool on clinical MRI platforms. MR cytometry imaging is an innovative, diffusion MRI based method that non-invasively measures mean cell size in vivo, thereby providing a powerful new way to characterize tissues for clinical applications. Investigators at VANDERBILT university medical center (VANDERBILT) and the university of washington in seattle (UW) will team up with PHILIPS healthcare (PHILIPS), a major vendor and supplier of clinical MRI scanners, to optimize and implement innovative pulse sequences, and to integrate automated data analyses into PHILIPS' commercial platform that can be deployed widely to further assessments of the clinical role of MR cytometry imaging, particularly in breast cancer. The project builds on several years of previous NIH-funded research on diffusion MRI and a long-standing cooperation between PHILIPS and VANDERBILT investigators. The proposal aims to fill the GAP by bringing both the academic (VANDERBILT and UW) and industry (PHILIPS) partners together to translate the MR cytometry imaging to state-of-the-art commercial platforms. This perfectly matches the goal of PAR-25-079 (academic-industrial partnerships (AIP) to translate and validate in vivo imaging systems) to "identify and translate a novel technological solution towards detection /diagnosis or treatment of cancers". We hereby identify the following specific aims: aim 1 [prototype development] the PHILIPS team will develop a prototype of the MR cytometry imaging tool for end users on their commercial MRI platform, including both data acquisition using oscillating gradient spin echo (OGSE) sequences and automated data analyses of MR cytometry imaging on PHILIPS's clinical platform. Aim 2 [protocol optimization]: the VANDERBILT team will further optimize MR cytometry imaging protocols for the most commonly-used gradient performances, particularly for breast cancer imaging, and develop a quality control (QC) protocol including a novel breast tumor cell size phantom to ensure the accuracy and stability of diffusion MRI and MR cytometry imaging measurements. Vertebrate animal models will be needed to generate three types of breast tumors with distinct mean cell sizes, which will then be dissociated into fixed cells to create the cell size phantom. This approach will allow the phantom to mimic the realistic cellular composition and size distribution of breast tumors, including cancer cells, immune cells, and stromal cells, making IT well suited as a QC phantom for MR cytometry in breast imaging. Aim 3 [multi-site evaluation]: the product prototype of MR cytometry imaging will be comprehensively evaluated for accuracy, intra- and inter-session repeatability in breast cancer patients at multiple sites, including VANDERBILT institute of imaging science, VANDERBILT hospital, and UW hospital. Upon completion, a reliable, easyto-use, and fully automated product prototype of MR cytometry imaging will be developed on PHILIPS's state-ofthe-art clinical MRI platform for end users in clinics. This provides a basis for more widespread applications of MR cytometry imaging in future cancer clinical trials.