Cincinnati doctor trying new imaging technique for children with brain tumors

Dr. Peter de Blank at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is passionate about curing children. De Blank researches better imaging practices. He said regular MRIs don't do enough. "It doesn't tell you what the tumor is, where it's hiding and how to treat it," de Blank said. He's trying a new technique called Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting. It was developed at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. They have initial results from 25 children in a study. "We've shown that we can differentiate those healthy regions of the brain from tumor regions," de Blank said. Researchers are looking at multiple ways to improve brain tumor imaging in children, even trying popular music. "If you can play them 'Frozen' for seven minutes ... they stay still," de Blank said. They're hoping the better imaging will lead to better outcomes for their patients.