STEVEN E HARMS, MD
Radiology at Sunbridge Dr, Fayetteville, AR

7769432, Aug 3, 2010

Jun 14, 2004

10/866913

V. Suzanne Klimberg - Little Rock AR, US
Sohelia Korourian - Little Rock AR, US
Steven Harms - Fayetteville AR, US
Gal Shafirstein - Little Rock AR, US

Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas - Little Rock AR

A61B 6/00, A61B 8/00

600473, 600439, 606 21, 606 27

The present invention provides a treatment method to excise a cancerous lesion, such as in the breast, with subsequent ablation of the margin. The method provides for location and excision with ablation under open guidance or guided imaging and for diagnosis by cytology. The method may be a minimally, invasive same day method with diagnosis before or immediately after excision. Also provided is a method of treating close or positive margins of an excisional site of a cancerous lesion in a breast by ablating the margin while monitoring the fluorescence of a fluorophor at the site to determine when ablation of the close or positive margin has occurred.

2009014, Jun 4, 2009

Dec 4, 2008

12/328481

Steven E. Harms - Fayetteville AR, US
Scott Spangenberg - Amherst NH, US
Xiaole Hong - Acton MA, US

A61B 5/05, G06K 9/00

600410, 382131

An MRI process and system image a volume of a sample in a magnetic field established by a biasing field magnet and an array of gradient magnet fields using a pulse sequence to obtain a response that is decoded into an image or images. A set of successive images is collected while the contrast associated with lesions and tumors is enhanced with a contrast agent. A non-spoiled reference image is acquired before the application of the contrast agent. The reference image is non-spoiled in that the pulse sequence for collecting a portion of the volume image is not randomized in phase in a manner that would reset the phase effects of a previous pulse sequence. At least one other one of the successive images collected using phase spoiling pulse sequences. The non-spoiled image data is registered with and subtracted from the successive images to enhance the appearance of selected compositions in the output image, such as the contrast agent and/or water to highlight lesions and cysts, or silicone from an implant, etc., which can be highlighted by color coding.

2009014, Jun 4, 2009

Dec 4, 2008

12/328644

Steven E. Harms - Fayetteville AR, US
Aiping Jiang - Lexington MA, US
Xiaole Hong - Acton MA, US

A61B 5/05

600426, 382131

In NMR/MRI imaging, a location is noted for a point in the imaged space, and referred to a reference location so that the point in imaged space is known thereafter, without the need to locate the point again in further imaging steps. For breast cancer diagnosis and biopsy, a breast holding fixture immobilizes the breast. A volumetric image is taken encompassing a portion of the breast. In the same or a subsequent image, a fiducial mark is detected to determine the position of a holder for a biopsy tool or other modality. The tissue feature can be a tumor, cyst or tubal lesion, made temporarily visible in the image by perfusion with a contrast agent. After the contrast agent dissipates, the location of the tissue feature can still be determined by reference to the position of the fiducial marker, which is optional adjustable by post-imaging metered displacement.

2010014, Jun 10, 2010

Dec 4, 2008

12/328587

Xiaole Hong - Acton MA, US
Steven E. Harms - Fayetteville AR, US
Aiping Jiang - Lexington MA, US

A61B 5/055

600420, 600410

An MRI image from spiral trajectory scanning is arranged as complementary subsets of values in time-sampled k-space. These values are Fourier transformed to produce a spatial domain image. While holding the patient stationary, the contrast information is updated at the central portion of k-space, and the peripheral portion of k-space data can be filled during the whole image acquisition. The contrast information is combined with the peripheral portion of k-space (contributing to image resolution) to construct a full k-space data and to generate a spatial image. The technique is useful for providing short time interval sampling when analyzing the take-up and fade-away of a contrast agent over time.

2009014, Jun 4, 2009

Dec 4, 2008

12/328543

Steven E. Harms - Fayetteville AR, US
Scott Spangenberg - Amherst NH, US
Xiaole Hong - Acton MA, US

A61B 5/055

600410

A method and system estimate the risk of malignancy of a given region of interest using noninvasive MRI techniques. The determination of risk is based on the morphology and kinetic enhancement of a region of interest. In addition, the method and system use the type of the enhancement curve to determine the level of risk associated with a given region of interest. The region of interest can be a lesion, tumor, or other unknown. The imaging can be done with the aid of a contrast agent. Regions meeting component concentration criteria, time-change dynamic criteria and the like are distinctly colored and displayed on a single image. Different colors can be shown locally to identify predetermined levels of risk, and/or associated with predetermined compositions such as contrast agents, or to show the presence of silicone.