Morpho-functional visualization of dynamic MR-mammography.
In view of an increasing use of breast MRI supplementing X-ray mammography, the purpose of this study was the development of a method for fast and efficient analysis of dynamic MR image series of the female breast. The image data sets were acquired with a saturation-recovery-turbo-FLASH sequence facilitating the detection of the kinetics of the contrast agent concentration in the whole breast with a high temporal and spatial resolution. In addition, a morphological 3D-FLASH data set was acquired. The dynamic image data sets were analyzed by tracer kinetic modeling in order to describe the physiological processes underlying the contrast enhancement in mathematical terms and thus enable the estimation of functional tissue specific parameters, reflecting the status of microcirculation. To display morphological and functional tissue information simultaneously, a multidimensional real-time visualization system (using 3D-texture mapping) was developed, which enables a practical and intuitive human-computer interface in virtual reality. The spatially differentiated representation of the computed functional tissue parameters superimposed on the anatomical information offers several possibilities: improved discernibility of contrast enhancement, inspection of the data volume in 3D-space and localization of lesions in space and thus fast and more natural recognition of topological coherencies. In a feasibility study, it could be demonstrated that multidimensional visualization of contrast enhancement in virtual reality is practical. Especially, detection and localization of multiple breast lesions may be an important application
Englmeier
K-H
KH
GSF--National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Medical Informatics Ingolstäder Landstrasse 1, Neuherberg, Germany. engelmeier@gsf.de
Hellwig
G
G
Griebel
J
J
Delorme
S
S
Siebert
M
M
Brix
G
G
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008956:Models, Chemical
D003287:Contrast Media