TY - JOUR
T1 - Overcoming limitations in diffusion-weighted MRI of breast by spatio-temporal encoding
AU - Solomon, Eddy
AU - Nissan, Noam
AU - Furman-Haran, Edna
AU - Seginer, Amir
AU - Shapiro-Feinberg, Myra
AU - Degani, Hadassa
AU - Frydman, Lucio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - Purpose Evaluating the usefulness of diffusion-weighted spatio-temporal encoding (SPEN) methods to provide quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-based characterizations of healthy and malignant human breast tissues, in comparison with results obtained using techniques based on spin-echo echo planar imaging (SE-EPI). Methods Twelve healthy volunteers and six breast cancer patients were scanned at 3T using scanner-supplied diffusion-weighted imaging EPI sequences, as well as two fully refocused SPEN variants programmed in-house. Suitable codes were written to process the data, including calculations of the actual b-values and retrieval of the ADC maps. Results Systematically better images were afforded by the SPEN scans, with negligible geometrical distortions and markedly weaker ghosting artifacts arising from either fat tissues or from strongly emitting areas such as cysts. SPEN-derived images provided improved characterizations of the fibroglandular tissues and of the lesions' contours. When translated into the calculation of the ADC maps, there were no significant differences between the mean ADCs derived from SPEN and SE-EPI: if reliable images were available, both techniques showed that ADCs decreased by nearly two-fold in the malignant lesion areas. Conclusion SPEN-based sequences yielded diffusion-weighted breast images with minimal artifacts and distortions, enabling the calculation of improved ADC maps and the identification of decreased ADCs in malignant regions. Magn Reson Med 73:2163-2173, 2015.
AB - Purpose Evaluating the usefulness of diffusion-weighted spatio-temporal encoding (SPEN) methods to provide quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-based characterizations of healthy and malignant human breast tissues, in comparison with results obtained using techniques based on spin-echo echo planar imaging (SE-EPI). Methods Twelve healthy volunteers and six breast cancer patients were scanned at 3T using scanner-supplied diffusion-weighted imaging EPI sequences, as well as two fully refocused SPEN variants programmed in-house. Suitable codes were written to process the data, including calculations of the actual b-values and retrieval of the ADC maps. Results Systematically better images were afforded by the SPEN scans, with negligible geometrical distortions and markedly weaker ghosting artifacts arising from either fat tissues or from strongly emitting areas such as cysts. SPEN-derived images provided improved characterizations of the fibroglandular tissues and of the lesions' contours. When translated into the calculation of the ADC maps, there were no significant differences between the mean ADCs derived from SPEN and SE-EPI: if reliable images were available, both techniques showed that ADCs decreased by nearly two-fold in the malignant lesion areas. Conclusion SPEN-based sequences yielded diffusion-weighted breast images with minimal artifacts and distortions, enabling the calculation of improved ADC maps and the identification of decreased ADCs in malignant regions. Magn Reson Med 73:2163-2173, 2015.
KW - apparent diffusion coefficients
KW - breast MRI
KW - breast cancer
KW - diffusion-weighted imaging
KW - spatiotemporal encoding
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929653082&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/mrm.25344
DO - 10.1002/mrm.25344
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C2 - 25045867
AN - SCOPUS:84929653082
SN - 0740-3194
VL - 73
SP - 2163
EP - 2173
JO - Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
JF - Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
IS - 6
ER -