Molecular Imaging Quantification for Inflammation-Guided Therapy
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for selecting drug treatments for inflammatory diseases are sub-optimal, leading to high failure rates and inefficiencies in healthcare due to patient heterogeneity, and there is a need for better patient stratification in clinical trials and therapeutic interventions.
Innovation Solution
A method for determining disease measures using in vivo molecular imaging, which involves correcting marker signal for tissue structure and vascular flow effects to accurately quantify biological targets like inflammatory proteins, enabling precise selection of disease-modifying therapies without invasive procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If patient selection is based on blood biomarkers, then treatment selection can be performed, but the accuracy and reliability of predicting treatment response is sub-optimal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces blood biomarker testing with in vivo molecular imaging techniques (PET/SPECT) to assess disease activity and inflammation. This substitution enables direct visualization and quantification of biological processes in the target organ, providing more accurate and reliable predictions of treatment response compared to indirect blood-based markers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the measurement parameters from blood biomarker concentrations to imaging metrics such as standardized uptake value (SUV), binding potential, and inflammation quantification. These imaging parameters provide more precise and reliable information about disease activity and treatment response, enabling better patient selection and stratification.
2Reliability
If multiple drugs are trialed to find the effective one, then treatment effectiveness can be achieved, but time and healthcare resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables preliminary assessment of disease activity, inflammation, and biological target expression before treatment initiation. By using in vivo molecular imaging to quantify these parameters, clinicians can predict which patients are most likely to respond to specific therapies, allowing for more informed treatment selection and reducing the need to trial multiple drugs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent provides quantitative imaging feedback about disease activity and treatment response that can be used to guide treatment decisions. This feedback mechanism allows for more accurate prediction of treatment effectiveness, enabling clinicians to select the most appropriate drug earlier and reduce the time required to identify effective therapy.
3Measurement precision
If invasive tissue biopsy is used to visualize inflammation, then direct measurement of disease is possible, but the procedure is invasive and limited in scope
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces invasive tissue biopsy with non-invasive in vivo molecular imaging (PET/SPECT) to visualize and quantify inflammation and disease activity. This substitution maintains the ability to directly measure disease processes while eliminating the invasiveness and tissue damage associated with biopsies, and extends measurement capability to the entire organ system rather than a localized sample.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise selection of effective therapies for individual patients by quantifying inflammatory processes non-invasively, reducing healthcare costs and improving treatment efficacy.
Implementation Method 1
These techniques make use of radiopharmaceuticals such as radiolabelled fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) or radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies to visualise processes, cells or cytokines associated with immune responses.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for determining a measure of disease in a region of the body of a subject. The method receives imaging data from imaging the region of the body of the subject having data representative of a distribution of a marker within the region administered to the subject prior to the imaging. The marker binds to a biological target related to the disease. The imaging data is processed to obtain a measure of marker signal in the region. The measure of marker signal is corrected for an effect on the marker signal of tissue structure within the region. The measure of the disease is determined for the region using the corrected measure of marker signal. Also provided is an apparatus configured to carry out the method.