Bilateral open breast coil and compatible intervention device

Dynamic contrast-enhanced breast AM is an extremely sensitive method for br east lesion detection. For MR-only detected lesions it is essential that ne edle biopsy or localization prior to surgery is carried out under MR guidan ce. This work describes a bilateral open breast coil and prototype interven tion device, which may be used in these situations. Results demonstrate tha t the open coil provides images superior to those obtained with a conventio nal closed breast coil. Initial phantom tests with the intervention device indicate a potential for this system to be used in the MR-guided localizati on of breast lesions. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.