Variable spatiotemporal resolution three-dimensional Dixon sequence for rapid dynamic contrast-enhanced breast MRI.

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Oncology

Background:

• Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI is crucial for breast cancer diagnosis.
• Existing methods often compromise spatial or temporal resolution.
• There is a need for advanced MRI techniques to improve breast cancer imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel variable spatiotemporal resolution DCE MRI technique, DISCO, for breast cancer imaging.
• To compare the performance of DISCO against conventional MRI sequences.

Main Methods:

• DISCO combines undersampling, pseudorandom k-space ordering, and Dixon fat-water separation.
• High temporal resolution was achieved using view sharing during contrast wash-in.
• Image quality and temporal characteristics were compared between DISCO and VIBRANT-FLEX in 40 patients.

Main Results:

• DISCO achieved 1.1 × 1.1 × 1.2 mm³ spatial resolution and ~9s temporal resolution.
• DISCO dynamic images showed significantly higher radiologist-ranked quality compared to VIBRANT-FLEX.
• No significant difference in aortic enhancement slope was observed between sequences.

Conclusions:

• DISCO is a promising MRI sequence for dynamic and structural breast cancer imaging.
• It enables near 1-mm isotropic resolution for static and dynamic contrast-enhanced phases.
• DISCO effectively captures rapidly enhancing tumors and postcontrast structural features.