Week 7: The Final Countdown

In a fitting manner, this final week seemed to be a compilation of all my best experiences over this summer immersion course. On the research side, my project got a total of 16 patients, which is not enough to do a complete statistical analysis but enough to notice some preliminary trends. Honestly, I had so much fun doing this project, I wish I could continue it till the end and see whether the trends I observe are still retained in a larger sample population. The most interesting trends that I saw were, a positive correlation between the Pi-Rads and the SUVmax/SUV peak, and a positive correlation between SUVmax/peak and MR histogram standard deviation and histogram skew. A positive correlation between the Pi-Rads and the SUVmax/SUV peak indicates that as the risk of tumor occurrence as observed from the MRI images increases, more lesions are detected in the PET images. This correlation indicates that some level of tumor invasiveness can be picked up from MRI scans, however, that level needs to be enhanced to be observed with the naked eye. Furthermore, the positive relation between SUVmax/peak and MR histogram standard deviation and skew indicates that highly invasive tumors have increased histogram standard deviation and skew texture features in the MRI scans. Thus, MRI is able to pick up the lesions seen in PET images as texture features. Further analysis will include overlaying a MRI texture map over the PET scan to see whether the lesion and texture locations are located in the same region.

On the clinical side, I got to see another mind blowing interventional radiology procedure called a chronic venous recanalization, where a radio frequency wire is guided into the clotted vein and heat from the wire is used to burn away the clots. That was the first time for the RF wire to be used for that procedure, so it was a very interesting to be able to observe that process.

I also got to enjoy my last week in the city, by going to see Aladdin on Broadway and completing another escape room. Both were amazing moments and I am glad I got to experience them with my friends.

As I was leaving, most people would ask me whether I am excited to go back to Ithaca, and I finally decided that my answer would be “Yes!”. Being in Weill Cornell Medicine was such a great time and gave me an entirely new perspective on how to help patients, that I’m excited to implement these new ideas and changes into my mindset as a researcher. To everyone who made this summer immersion possible, this will undoubtedly be one of my most unforgettable experiences as a graduate student.