The two-year grant allows Dr. Shah and his collaborators-Dr. Nicholas Avgeropoulos, a neuro-oncologist with Orlando Health System and Dr. David Rippe, a neuroradiologist at Florida Hospital Heartland-to develop a computer program that automatically measures the size of a tumor from MRI scans.
One of Dr. Shah’s challenges is to convert the typically low-resolution scans to the high-resolution images needed for computers to measure tumors.
Although physicians have used three-dimensional imaging (such as MRI) for years to detect tumors, standard practice is for doctors to analyze and interpret the films by sight. Preliminary results using Dr. Shah’s new method of automated analysis showed results to be up to 90 percent as accurate when compared to the analyses provided by the radiologists.
The grant is the first UCF has received from money allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment stimulus program.