ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To rapidly calculate and validate subject-specific field maps based on the three-dimensional shape of the bilateral breast volume. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy female volunteers were scanned at 3 Tesla using a multi-echo sequence that provides water, fat, in-phase, out-of-phase, and field map images. A shape-specific binary mask was automatically generated to calculate a computed field map using a dipole field model. The measured and computed field maps were compared by visualizing the spatial distribution of the difference field map, the mean absolute error, and the 80% distribution widths of frequency histograms. RESULTS: The 10 computed field maps had a mean absolute error of 38 Hz (0.29 ppm) compared with the measured field maps. The average 80% distribution widths for the histograms of all of the computed, measured, and difference field maps are 205 Hz, 233 Hz, and 120 Hz, respectively. CONCLUSION: The computed field maps had substantial overall agreement with the measured field maps, indicating that breast MRI field maps can be computed based on the air-tissue interfaces. These estimates may provide a predictive model for field variations and thus have the potential to improve applications in breast MRI.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Breast/pathology , Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods , Air , Algorithms , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Computer Simulation , Female , Humans , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods , Imaging, Three-Dimensional , Magnetics , Models, Statistical , Models, Theoretical , Phantoms, Imaging , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
An integrated Overhauser-enhanced MRI-Prepolarized MRI system was developed to obtain radiobiological information that could be accurately coregistered with diagnostic quality anatomic images. EPR and NMR images were acquired through the double resonance technique and field cycling of the main magnetic field from 5 mT to 0.5 T. Dedicated EPR and NMR coils were devised to minimize radiofrequency power deposition with high signal-to-noise ratio. Trityl and nitroxide radicals were used to characterize oxygen and redox sensitivities of multispin echo Overhauser-enhanced MRI. Oxygen resolution of 3 mmHg was obtained from 2 mM deoxygenated trityl phantoms. Trityl radicals were stable in reducing environments and did not alter the redox-sensitive decaying rate of the nitroxide signals. Nitroxide radicals had a compounding effect for the trityl oximetry. Tumor oxygenation and redox status were acquired with anatomical images by injecting trityl and nitroxide probes subsequently in murine tumors. The Overhauser-enhanced MRI-Prepolarized MRI system is ready for quantitative longitudinal imaging studies of tumor hypoxia and redox status as radiotherapy prognostic factors.
