Intensity-modulated parametric mapping for simultaneous display of rapid dynamic and high-spatial-resolution breast MR imaging data

Contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the breast has variable specificity for differentiation of breast cancer from other enhancing conditions. Two principal strategies to improve its specificity are rapid dynamic MR imaging and high-spatial-resolution MR imaging. A method was developed of combining contemporaneously acquired dynamic and high-spatial-resolution MR imaging data into a single integrated display. Whole-breast rapid dynamic data were condensed into a color map by using pharmacokinetic analysis. The pharmacokinetic results were combined with the high-spatial-resolution images with a new technique that preserves underlying morphologic details. This new method was evaluated by five radiologists for eight breast lesions, and the results were compared with those of the standard method of overlaying parametric map data. The radiologists' ratings showed a statistically significant preference for the intensity-modulated parametric map display method over the overlaid parametric display method for 10 of the 12 evaluation criteria. The new method enabled simultaneous visualization of pharmacokinetic and morphologic information, facilitated assessment of lesion extent, and improved the suppression of noise in the pharmacokinetic data. The ability to simultaneously assess both dynamic and high-spatial-resolution features may ultimately improve the specificity of breast MR imaging.