Communications of the ACM
Computer Program Will Detect, Measure Brain Tumors
Mubarak Shah, UCF's Agere Chair professor of Computer Science and a leading researcher in computer imaging, is developing a program to analyze brain scans produced by MRIs.
Credit: UCF Marketing
University of Central Florida professor Mubarak Shah is applying the techniques used to detect suspicious activity in airports, stadiums, and other public places to find and measure potentially life-threatening brain tumors. Shah, Orlando Health System neuro-oncologist Dr. Nicholas Avgeropoulos, and Florida Hospital Zephyrhills Sunshine Radiology neuroradiologist Dr. David Rippe are developing a method that will automatically measure and compare the size of a tumor in three dimensions from MRI scans. "Radiologists use computers to look at scans, but this is taking the next step — allowing computers to help radiologists analyze the pictures and enabling an automated method to calculate the size of tumors," Rippe says.
A radiologist's analysis can be limited by a variety of factors, including tumors that are irregular in shape or have jagged edges, tumors with liquefied centers, or surrounding tissue that is deformed or changing shape — all of which are difficult to see and quantify. The automated analysis of a small data set using a preliminary method from Shah has proven to be up to 90 percent accurate compared to analyses by radiologists.
From University of Central Florida
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