Effects of magnetic field strength and b value on the sensitivity and specificity of quantitative breast...

To evaluate the effect of b value or the magnetic field strength (B0) on the sensitivity and specificity of quantitative breast diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

A total of 126 patients underwent clinical breast MRI that included pre-contrast DWI imaging using b values of both 1,000 and 1,500 s/mm² at either 1.5 T (n=86) or 3.0 T (n=40). Quantitative apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) were measured and compared for 18 benign, 33 malignant lesions, and 126 normal breast tissues. Optimal ADCmean threshold for differentiating benign and malignant lesions was estimated and the effect of b values and B0 were examined using a generalized estimating equations (GEE) model.

The optimal ADCmean threshold was 1.235×10^-3 mm²/s for b value of 1,000 and 0.934×10^-3 mm²/s for b value of 1,500. Using these thresholds, the sensitivities and specificities were 96% and 89% (b value =1,000, B0 =1.5 T), 89% and 98% (b value =1,000, B0 =3.0 T), 88% and 96% (b value =1,500, B0 =1.5 T), and 67% and 100% (b value =1,500, B0 =3.0 T). No significant difference was found between different B0 (P=0.26) or b values (P=0.28).

Better sensitivity is achieved with DWI of b value =1,000 than with b value =1,500. However, b value and B0 do not significantly impact diagnostic performance of DWI when using appropriate thresholds.