Clinical Comparison of Conventional DWI STIR and Focus DWI FS for Breast Cancer Evaluation

Motivation: Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is an essential component in breast MRI alongside dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI techniques, which is the current gold standard in breast lesion characterization. For DWI to add value to patient diagnosis, the image quality and resolution of acquired DWI is very important. Goal(s): Demonstrate the impact of FOCUS DWI and different fat suppression methods on image resolution and quality. Approach: Conducted a clinical evaluation of FOCUS and conventional DWI, combining observations on STIR and CHESS pulse techniques and their impact on spatial resolution. Results: Pairing FOCUS DWI with CHESS technique resulted in improved lesion conspicuity and image resolution. Impact: FOCUS DWI is more superior to conventional DWI. A shorter readout time enables a reduction of FOV, reducing off-resonance induced artifacts and physiological image blurring. CHESS fat-signal technique improves spatial resolution and SNR when utilized with proper ROI imaging.