Optimisation of B-Values for Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of the Breast

Marco Borri¹, Maria a Schmidt¹, Matthew Blackledge¹, Erica Scurr¹, Elizabeth O'Flynn¹, David Collins¹, Matthew Orton¹, Veronica Morgan¹, Nandita de Souza¹, Martin O. Leach¹

Breast-DWI has been used in cancer diagnostic and monitoring of treatment response. Accurate calculation of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient(ADC) is essential and depends on the choice of b-values. In this work we utilise ADC data from large breast lesions to calculate optimal b-values, and compare protocols using different numbers of b-values. The calculated separation (1150s/mm2) is larger than the range of b-values used in many published clinical studies. Our data did not show significant advantage in the use of 2 b-values only, while a larger number of b-values could minimize artifacts and ensure correct sampling for a larger range of ADC-values.