DIFFUSION IMAGING OF HUMAN BREAST

It is shown that diffusion-weighted imaging is possible in the human b reast, Diffusion constants were measured in the breast parenchyma of f our volunteers with no known breast lesions, The apparent diffusion co nstant of water measured in regions of interest chosen in normal human breast fibroglandular tissue was 1.64 +/- 0.19 x 10(-5) cm(2)/s and t hat measured in the area of fatty breast tissue was 0.32 +/- 0.18 x 10 (-5) cm(2)/s. The resulting images indicate that fibroglandular tissue and fat can be clearly distinguished in diffusion-weighted as well as in absolute diffusion images of the breast, Potential future applicat ions of this technology for the study of breast pathologies are sugges ted. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.