Methods and systems for monitoring tumor burden

An imaging system comprising an image acquisition module for acquiring image data, a controller configured to control the image acquisition portion, and a processor configured to quantify a selected attribute of an image volume and monitor changes of the selected attribute, said processor further programmed to:

• receive an image dataset for a volume of interest from at least one of an X-ray modality, a CT modality, an ultrasound modality, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modality, a positron emission tomography (PET) modality, a nuclear medicine modality, an optical modality, and a combination of modalities;
• process the dataset for a selected attribute based at least on one of shape and texture to obtain a plurality of responses;
• and
• compute an index of an aggregate of a plurality of obtained responses.

A method for quantification of a selected attribute of an image volume and monitoring changes of the selected attribute, said method comprising:

• receiving an image dataset for a volume of interest;
• processing the dataset for a selected attribute based at least on one of shape and texture to obtain a plurality of responses;
• and
• computing an index of an aggregate of the plurality of obtained responses.

A method for quantification of a total tumor burden of at least a portion of a patient and monitoring changes of the total tumor burden, said method comprising:

• receiving a multidimensional image dataset for a volume of interest;
• filtering the multidimensional image dataset for a texture based on a spherical shape to obtain at least one response;
• and
• computing a tumor burden index in the volume of interest using the at least one obtained response.