Marieke Heisen1, Bo Peng2, Abbie
Marie Wood3, Devkumar Mustafi2,3, Johannes Buurman4,
Gillian M. Newstead3, Gregory S. Karczmar3
1Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven
University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands; 2Biochemistry
& Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United
States; 3Radiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United
States; 4Healthcare Informatics, Philips Healthcare, Best,
Netherlands
A
unique calibration phantom was designed for routine use in breast MRI. It was
used to correct the variable flip angles in a precontrast T1-measurement, and
to inspect T1 sensitivity in the clinically employed T1-weighted dynamic
contrast-enhanced protocol. The flip angle correction altered the T1
estimates in breast tissue significantly. The clinical protocol demonstrated
an increase in signal intensity for decreasing T1 (as expected) until a
certain level, after which signal attenuation occurred. The quality of the
breast images acquired with the phantom in place was found to be normal by an
experienced mammographer.
Keywords