Overcoming limitations in diffusion-weighted MRI of breast by spatio-temporal encoding

Eddy Solomon, Noam Nissan, Edna Furman-Haran, Amir Seginer, Myra Shapiro-Feinberg, Hadassa Degani, Lucio Frydman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2163-2173
Number of pages11
JournalMagnetic Resonance in Medicine
Volume73
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • apparent diffusion coefficients
  • breast MRI
  • breast cancer
  • diffusion-weighted imaging
  • spatiotemporal encoding

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