Comparative study of time-dependent diffusion MRI and conventional DWI for microstructural characterization of breast lesions

Motivation: Time-dependent diffusion MRI (dMRI), thanks to its distinct advantages in characterizing tissue microstructure, has gained increasing popularity in clinical research in recent years. Goal(s): However, its potential for distinguishing breast lesions remains uncertain. Approach: The present study was conducted to compare the diagnostic performance of time-dependent dMRI parameters and ADC metrics derived from conventional DWI for breast lesions. Results: The study results suggest that microstructural parameters based on time-dependent dMRI are superior to conventional DWI measurements in diagnosing breast lesions, and that the addition of time-dependent dMRI parameters improves the performance of conventional DWI in differentiating breast lesions. Impact: Herein, the microstructural characteristics of breast lesions were investigated using time-dependent dMRI technique and compared with conventional DWI. It was found that that adding time-dependent dMRI parameters could improve the performance of conventional DWI in the diagnosis of breast cancer.