Feasibility of 7 Tesla Breast MRI. Determination of Intrinsic Sensitivity & High Resolution MRI, DWI & 1H-MRS of Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Neo-Adjuvant Therapy

Mies A. Korteweg¹, Wouter B. Veldhuis¹, Fredy Visser¹, Peter R. Luijten¹, Willem P. Th. M. Mali¹, Paul J. van Diest², Maurice A. A. J. van den Bosch¹, Dennis W. J. Klomp¹

Feasibility of 7T breast MRI was evaluated. First the intrinsic sensitivity gain was compared to 3T in healthy volunteers resulting in a 5.7 times increased SNR. Next the clinical application of 7T MRI in breast cancer patients receiving neo-adjuvant chemotherapy was evaluated. High resolution images (450 m isotropic) were acquired to describe tumor morphology. Apparent diffusion coefficients, tumor size and the total Choline pool were measured during chemotherapy. In one case the 7T results were more consistent with histopathology than 3T. Dedicated 7T breast MRI is technically feasible, can provide more SNR than 3T, and has diagnostic potential.