High temporal and spatial resolution breast MR imaging at 7T; Feasibility Study using 8-to-1 channel Tx-only Array Combined with 8 channel Rx-only Insert

Introduction: In the breast MR imaging, high temporal and spatial resolution is critical to improve the accuracy of diagnosing the changes in breast tissue. Dynamic MR imaging is used for tracking the wash-in/-out patterns and depiction of fine morphologic details of lesion can be observed only in early post-contrast phase (60-120 sec. after the injection). Acquiring breast MR images with high spatial resolution is another prerequisite for assessing the breast disease, since the most commonly used diagnostic criteria for differential diagnosis is based on lesion morphology [1]. Also, it has been reported that the non-uniform B1 field within the breast significantly affects not only the kinetic analysis but also efficacy of fat-suppression [2]. With the advantage of high SNR at 7T, in order to acquire uniform B1 field distribution with high temporal and spatial resolution of breast MR imaging, we have developed the TX only array combined with 8-ch. Rx array insert. Three normal healthy volunteers were examined with T1w-fat suppression to demonstrate the feasibility of breast Tx-only/Rx-only coil system.