Chapter 18 - Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) for Breast Lesion Characterization: The Olea Medical Perspective and the Utilization of Olea Sphere Software

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an increasingly significant role in diagnosis and follow-up of breast lesions. A myriad of sequences are now available to provide various biomarkers for lesion characterization and grading to supplement mammographic findings. More recently, along with dynamic-contrast enhanced (DCE) and T2-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has emerged as a contrast-agent-free technique allowing to discriminate benign from malignant lesions. However, the lack of consensus regarding acquisition protocols requires significant efforts from medical and scientific communities toward standardization. The absence of guidelines leaves the vendor uncertain as to what characteristics in their software product would be the most applicable for the market. In the meanwhile, until such consensus is reached, vendors can only offer a large spectrum of metrics to allow multiparametric analysis. Olea Sphere combined with breastscape offers a large panel of advanced postprocessing for diffusion, permeability, relaxometry, and texture to facilitate breast lesion characterization and, hopefully, contribute to the standardization of clinical practice for the utmost benefit to patients. In this chapter, the authors describe the various DWI models implemented within Olea Sphere, with specific focus on the clinical interest of such advanced metrics, based on the proprietary Bayesian postprocessing method.