Bilateral breast MRI by use of dual-source parallel radiofrequency excitation and image-based shimming at 3 Tesla: improvement in homogeneity on fat-suppression imaging.

In this study, we aimed to compare fat-suppression homogeneity on breast MR imaging by using dual-source parallel radiofrequency excitation and image-based shimming (DS-IBS) with single-source radiofrequency excitation with volume shim (SS-Vol) at 3 Tesla. Twenty patients were included. Axial three-dimensional T1-weighted turbo-field-echo breast images with DS-IBS and SS-Vol were obtained. Fat suppression was scored with four grade points. The contrast of the pectoral muscle and the fat in each breast area was obtained in the head medial, head lateral, foot medial, and foot lateral areas. The axillary space was calculated and compared between DS-IBS and SS-Vol. The average DS-IBS score was significantly higher than that of SS-Vol. The mean contrasts of fat in the foot lateral areas and axillary spaces on DS-IBS images were significantly higher than on SS-Vol images.