Development of MRI breast imaging as a non-invasive alternative to needle biopsy.

摘要

This study examines the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an adjunct to mammography. Mammograms have uncertainties that create the need for needle biopsies. Many times these biopsies are unnecessary and may cause infection or scar tissue. Current research is showing MRI with a contrast agent to be a promising method of breast imaging as a follow-up to mammography. This research explores MR breast imaging by developing a software tool that extracts necessary data from an MRI and provides information to determine the status of a questionable lesion. Using ImageJ software, a Java program was developed, which plots the uptake of a contrast agent vs. time after injection, produces histograms of the lesion at different time intervals and reports statistical information about the lesion. Results show the slope of the uptake-washout curve along with the histograms provides information that helps to distinguish malignant from benign tissue. This research is a start to developing a clinical procedure for the use of MR breast imaging as a minimally invasive follow up to mammography.