COLOR MAP OF CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT ON MR-IMAGES - USE OF DESK-TOP COMPUTERS

An alternative method of presenting and evaluating unenhanced and cont rast-enhanced MR images is illustrated. We used a desktop computer and commercially available software to combine unenhanced and contrast-en hanced images to produce a color map of contrast enhancement superimpo sed on a gray-scale image. The color-enhanced images increased the con spicuousness of the areas of contrast enhancement, which is particular ly important if the enhancing structures are small or adjacent to fatt y tissues. The process has advantages over standard subtraction techni ques in that gray scale is preserved while areas of subtle contrast en hancement are readily seen as areas of color. Although applied to MR i maging, this method may also be applicable to other studies that use c ontrast enhancement