Olgica Zaric1,
Bernhard Strasser1, Stefan Zbn1, Katja Pinker1,
Stephan Gruber1, Siegfried Trattnig1, Wolfgang Bogner1,
2
1Department
of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 2Department
of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston,
MA, United States
The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of performing sodium MR imaging (23Na MRI) of the human breast at 7T in healthy volunteers and to optimize suitable imaging for use in cancer diagnostics and treatment monitoring. Imaging parameters such as in-plane image resolution of 1 mm, high signal-to-noise ratios, reduced imaging artifacts and reasonable imaging time were achieved. 23Na-MRI, has potential to extend MRI beyond information about anatomical imaging by providing information on physiology and cellular metabolism. Based on our initial results, we conclude that 23Na-MRI at 7T has great potential in clinical investigations of breast tumors.