May 16, 2022 — TheBarcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)coordinates QUSTom (Quantitative Ultrasound Stochastic Tomography), a new European project that aims to introduce a new medical imaging modality based for the first time on ultrasound and supercomputing, which will complement or even replace current techniques that use X-rays such asmammograms. This technology will be completely safe for patients as it does not use any type of radiation. It will also offer a superior image quality and better monitoring of tumors, among other advantages.
The algorithms that will be developed to obtain the medical images will offer two types of images simultaneously: the image of the patient's tissue, and the image of its associated uncertainty, which shows, pixel by pixel, how reliable the information is. The project also incorporates concepts such as multimodal imaging and real 3D imaging, which is an unprecedented combination inultrasound breast imaging.
这些算法将在BSC内使用超级计算机开发，其灵感将来自于其他已被证明在完全不同的研究领域(如地球地下结构分析)有效的算法。
Apart from BSC, the project has five other partners:Karlsruher Institut für Technologie,Vall d'Hebron Research Institute - VHIR,Arcturand the BSC and Imperial College London spin-offFrontWave Imaging, which is aligned with the objectives of this project, as well asImperial College Londonitself as an associate partner.Therefore, physicists, engineers, operational experts and radiologists will work together to develop the next generation of radiation-free, accurate and scalable breast cancer diagnostic tools.
BSC researcher and project coordinator Josep de la Puente says: "QUSTom poses an excellent opportunity to bring ultrasound imaging to the next level. Interestingly enough, the revolution that we propose comes, not just from an extraordinary imaging device, but from the imaging algorithms used to generate unprecedented ultrasound images. Images that we can fairly compare to those obtained withMRI”.
The process of understanding, interpreting and configuring the images as a new diagnostic tool will be carried out by the team of Breast Imaging Radiologists from the Women's Radiology Service at Vall d'Hebron Hospital. "The development of this new technology will be carried out within the framework of the multimodal assessment that the team performs in the clinical care process as an integral part of the diagnosis and monitoring of breast cancer, all in the context of the Breast Pathology Unit," highlights Ana Rodríguez-Arana, head of the Women's Radiology Service at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital.
QUSTom被选中参加欧洲创新理事会(EIC)开路者开放计划的第一次召集，该计划由欧盟地平线欧洲框架计划资助，旨在支持具有巨大国际潜力的颠覆性想法和项目。该项目在两年内获得了274.43万欧元的奖励。在第一次会议中，欧盟委员会总共评估了868个项目，最终只有56个项目入选，其中11个来自西班牙。In total, they will receive up to 168 million euros in funding.
Ultrasound to revolutionize diagnosis of the most common tumor
Breast canceris the most frequently diagnosed type of tumor in the world, with 2.3 million women diagnosed in 2020 and 700,000 deaths due to this disease that same year. Early detection is therefore essential, since, if successful, survival at 5 years after diagnosis is as high as 90%.
Mammography is one of the most widely used methods to detect breast cancer and has saved millions of lives. However, there are studies that claim that it can give false positives and alert of a possible tumor that is not found later in the screening phase.
“我们雄心勃勃，计划在项目生命周期内验证该技术。我们也在制定一个路线图来实现它的实际应用，我们不希望这项技术还停留在实验室里。在我们看来，我们正不遗余力地满足全世界女性人口的迫切需要。挑战是巨大的，但我们所有的合作伙伴和同事都非常致力于我们的使命，并对我们的使命充满动力。”BSC研究员Josep de la Puente总结道。
For more information:https://qustom-project.eu/
August 11, 2022
