LAWS Webinar 3

Short Early Career Talk (10 Minutes)

Synergistic Effects of Microbubble-Mediated Focused Ultrasound and Radiotherapy in an F98 Glioma Model

Stecia-Marie P. Fletcher

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Main Talk (30 Minutes)

Opportunities and Risks of Machine Learning in Echocardiography

Danay Valenzuela Rodríguez

Philips Healthcare

Q&A Sesssion (10 Minutes)

Short Early Career Talk

Synergistic effects of microbubble-mediated focused ultrasound and radiotherapy in a F98 glioma model
Combined microbubble-mediated focused ultrasound (FUS) and radiation therapy (RT) has been shown to improve outcomes in tumors outside the brain. Here, we study the effects of FUS+RT in a F98 glioma model. Tumor cells were implanted into the brains of 45 Fischer rats (n=4-8 per group): Controls, FUS, RT (4,8,15-Gy), and FUS+RT (4,8,15-Gy). 9 days after implantation, tumors were targeted using FUS (1-2W, 220kHz, 5ms bursts, 1Hz PRF, 180s, 20µL/kg Definity microbubbles), followed by RT. Tumor progression was monitored using MRI. At 4Gy, FUS+RT increased tumor doubling time by 11% compared to RT only and Controls (P<0.01). At higher doses, where RT alone had a significant effect, there were no significant differences in doubling time compared to RT alone. Tumor volumes were reduced by 21-57% (4Gy) and 20-48% (15Gy) compared with RT alone (P<0.05). No significant benefit was observed at 8Gy. A moderate, but not significant, increase in median survival was observed: 28 vs. 27days (4Gy), 30 vs. 29days (8Gy), and 35 vs. 33days (15Gy). However, at 4Gy, FUS+RT significantly improved survival by 6% compared to the control group (median survival = 27days), while RT only offered no improvement. This study indicates that FUS+RT may improve therapeutic outcomes in glioblastoma, particularly at low RT doses, where RT alone has no therapeutic benefit.

Stecia-Marie P. Fletcher

Stecia-Marie Fletcher is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Focused Ultrasound Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She conducts mentored research with Dr. Nathan McDannold to develop and test novel therapeutic ultrasound techniques. Her research interests include ultrasound-enhanced drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier and non-invasive neurosurgery, particularly for applications in glioblastoma multiforme and neurodegenerative diseases.  Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Stecia has a strong background in Physical Acoustics and Biomedical Ultrasonics. She earned an undergraduate degree in Medical Physics from University College London in 2016, and defended her Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto in March 2021.

Main Talk

Opportunities and Risks of Machine Learning in Echocardiography
Healthcare face enormous issues today, with growing number of patients and too few doctors to treat them. Artificial intelligence could and can help solving these problems, offering a variety of opportunities. We will discuss how AI has already become part of today’s clinical routine, with a focus on ultrasound. We will highlight the risks as well as the huge opportunities AI has to offer. Finally, we want to draw your attention to the less “fictional” but more pragmatic application of it, that it is about to become reality in echocardiography.

Danay Valenzuela Rodríguez

Danay Valenzuela Rodríguez has at least 25 years of experience in the health industry, always within the framework of echocardiographic imaging and research. Her professional career includes extensive experience as a multilingual international scientific speaker, as well as in the development and management of communication bridges; between technology applied to clinical practice. Danay is a graduate of the Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain; and has a post-graduate degree in Echocardiography from the University Hospital of Treviso, Italy. She has to her credit at least five individual tutorials of 2 years duration each, to professional women who join after a long maternity leave. She currently works full time at Philips Healthcare, as Head of Global Clinical Marketing within the Cardiology Ultrasound Imaging Business group. She has also worked at General Electric, Siemens-Acuson and Hewlett-Packard; always within the Ultrasound Imaging Diagnostic field of research. Born in Havana, Cuba; has lived in Europe for over 30 years.