Noncompressive MR Elastography of Breasts

Jun Chen¹, Kathleen Brandt¹, Karthik Ghosh¹, Roger C. Grimm¹, Kevin J. Glaser¹, Jennifer Kugel¹, Richard L. Ehman¹

Early and accurate diagnosis of breast cancer is critical for optimal treatment. There is considerable interest in exploring the potential of MR elastography to enhance the specificity of contrast-enhanced MRI for characterizing breast lesions. However, as previously implemented MR-elastography has used mechanical drivers that require contact and compression of the breasts, which can change breast tissue stiffness. This study rizes the development of a new noncompressive MR Elastography technique that does not require any contact with or compression of the breasts and reports the results from a preliminary study of 7 healthy volunteers and one patient with invasive ductal carcinoma.