Microcalcification Detection and Differentiation in Breast Cancer using Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI

Motivation: Ultra short echo time (UTE) has been developed to capture the rapid signal decay of short T2* species, to overcome the insensitivity of conventional MRI towards micro-calcification, a central prognostic marker of breast cancer. Goal(s): To examine the degree of calcification in breast tumour specimens using UTE. Approach: The degree of calcification of whole tumour from 20 specimens freshly excised from female patients with breast cancer was derived using dual-echo UTE protocol, with correlation against histological findings. Results: The degree of calcification was significantly different between malignant and non-calcified tissue, with no significant correlation to Ki-67 and NPI scores. Impact: Ultra-short echo time (UTE) enhances the sensitivity to micro-calcifications in the breast, through dual-echo approach to maximise the signal of short T2* species. Clinical implementation of UTE can enhance assessment of microcalcification and improve prognostic value of breast cancer imaging.