Monitoring Therapeutic Response of Metastatic Breast Lesions Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Water Self-Diffusion Coefficients

摘要

A new magnetic resonance imaging technique has been developed that is designed to detect and monitor metastatic breast lesions in bone marrow and other organs. Specifically, a diffusion sensitive echo planar magnetic resonance pulse sequence has been developed for both 1.5 Tesla and 3.0 Tesla whole-body imaging systems along with image processing techniques to facilitate whole-body screening for breast metastases. The acquisition sequence allows for multi-shot, multi-excitation imaging at multiple diffusion weighting values and is also compatible with phased array resonator use. Three-dimensional image reconstruction includes a paradigm for matching slabs of images obtained at multiple anatomical stations to yield a single field-of-view for rapid assessment of metastatic activity in subsequent clinical studies. Image display makes use of a pseudo-three- dimensional rotating presentation of maximum intensity projections through the three- dimensional dataset. In addition, the method is amenable to the measurement of coefficients of water-self diffusion on a voxel-by-voxel or region of interest basis anywhere in the body. This imaging technique requires no introduced contrast agents and can be completed in less than 20 minutes on conventional magnetic resonance scanners.