Current Studies
This study aims to assess the feasibility of magnetic resonance (MR) guided prostate biopsy using a needle holder frame. This frame is used to help position the needle used for the biopsy. The feasibility in this study is defined as whether the needle holder frame enables accurate tissue sampling from a suspicious region in the prostate found on an MR image. If it does, a biopsy can be carried out with the needle holder frame safely in a clinical routine. The study will be conducted during a routine MR-guided prostate biopsy procedure with an investigational needle holder frame instead of a conventional needle-guiding template.
This research study is evaluating an investigational drug called rQNestin34.5v.2. This Phase I clinical trial tests the safety of an investigational drug and also tries to define the appropriate dose of the investigational drug as a possible treatment for this diagnosis of recurrent or progressive brain tumor.
Completed Studies
In this research study, the investigators are evaluating whether ammonia PET scans or FDG PET perfusion scans are more useful in helping radiologists determine whether liver tumors were successfully destroyed by the heating or freezing procedures (ablations) than other scans currently available to radiologists, such as CT scans and MRI scans. The currently available scan (usually a CT scan with contrast dye) is not always effective in showing how completely the tumor has been destroyed. The ammonia PET scan is a different way of looking at how much tumor has been destroyed. This study will compare the standard scan (CT scan) with the ammonia PET scan.
This research study is a pilot study designed to evaluate magnetic resonance imaging-guided therapy (MRT) as a possible treatment for breast cancer. In this pilot study, the investigators are studying if it is possible to use intra-operative MRI to guide surgery. The therapy takes place in the Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) suite at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The purpose of this study is to investigate if it is possible to perform the breast conserving surgery with the help of intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging in the advanced multimodality image guided operating suite. It is hoped that intra operative MRI may improve the surgeon’s ability to know the exact margins of tumor. Currently, approximately 40% of women need to come back to the operating room and have the margins of the cancer re-excised.
This research study is to compare the extent of resection (EOR) in patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas undergoing transsphenoidal surgery using a microsurgical technique to those patients who have undergone surgery with a fully endoscopic technique. Another goal is to compare surgical complications, endocrine outcomes, visual outcomes, length of surgery, length of hospital stay, and readmission rates between the two transsphenoidal surgery techniques. This is an observational data collection study with no experimental procedures or experimental medicines. Endonasal transsphenoidal removal of a pituitary tumor is a unique procedure and there is little information comparing the two surgical techniques.
Standard therapy for gynecologic cancers involves the use of brachytherapy, also called internal radiation therapy or implant radiation. The treatment being studied consists of standard brachytherapy with the additional use of MRI to guide the insertion of radioactive applicators. The purpose of the study is to find out whether MRI-guided brachytherapy is practical and beneficial when compared to the standard CT-guided brachytherapy placement. The investigators are hoping that this MRI procedure will decrease the risk of giving too high a radiation dose to the bladder or bowel.