title: A multipurpose phantom for quality assurance of contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the breast.
abstract: A phantom consisting of four components was developed to simulate contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the breast. These components included the correlation between the signal intensity and the contrast medium concentration, the uniformity of signals within surface coils, artefacts due to opposed-phase imaging effects, spatial resolution and the acquisition of relevant signal-to-time curves. Repetitive measurements demonstrated an excellent reproduction of phantom imaging with a deviation in signal intensity of approximately 5 %. The presented phantom allows the optimization of examination protocols as well as the comparison of different examination techniques. Furthermore, it enables the routine quality monitoring of contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the breast.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Robert-Koch Strasse 40, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Döler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luftner-Nagel
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grabbe
mesh_terms: D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011786:Quality Control