In vivo MRI electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) of tumors

A significant increase in electrical conductivity of neoplasticities compared to healthy tissues and benign formations has been reported in several studies. We previously reported preliminary results with MR based Electrical Impedance Tomography (MREIT) on several phantoms and a single animal. In the presented study, we applied the technique on ten tumor-bearing rats and collected MREIT images to investigate the potential of MREIT for characterizing malignant tumors. Results show that the tumors had significantly higher mean conductivity compared to the mean of conductivity in the rest of the body. Although heterogeneity of conductivity was observed in the tumor, the mean was still higher than the background.