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Updated: Jun 2, 2026
Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Computer-aided diagnosis in breast DCE-MRI--quantification of the heterogeneity of breast lesions
Uta Preim1, Sylvia Glaßer, Bernhard Preim
1Herzzentrum Leipzig, Universitätsklinik, Strümpellstraße 39, 04289 Leipzig, Germany. uta.preim@googlemail.com
Purpose:
In our study we aim at the quantification of the heterogeneity for differential diagnosis of breast lesions in MRI.
Materials And Methods:
We tested a software tool for quantification of heterogeneity. The software tool provides a three-dimensional analysis of the whole breast lesion. The lesions were divided in regions with similar perfusion characteristics. Voxels were merged to the same region, if the perfusion parameters (wash-in, wash-out, integral, peak enhancement and time to peak) correlated to 99%. We evaluated 68 lesions from 50 patients. 31 lesions proved to be benign (45.6%) and 37 malignant (54.4%). We included small lesions which could only be detected with MRI.
Results:
The analysis of heterogeneity showed significant differences (p<0.005; AUC 0.7). Malignant lesions were more heterogeneous than benign ones. Significant differences were also found for morphologic parameters such as shape (p<0.001) and margin (p<0.007). The analysis of the enhancement dynamics did not prove successful in lesion discrimination.
Conclusion:
Our study indicates that the region analysis for quantification of heterogeneity may be a helpful additional method to differentiate benign lesions from malignant ones.
