Automated characterization of breast lesions imaged with an ultrafast DCE-MR protocol.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) of the breast has become an invaluable tool in the clinical work-up of patients suspected of having breast carcinoma. The purpose of this study is to introduce novel features extracted from the kinetics of contrast agent uptake imaged by a short (100 s) view-sharing MRI protocol, and to investigate how these features measure up to commonly used features for regular DCE-MRI of the breast. Performance is measured with a computer aided diagnosis (CADx) system aimed at distinguishing benign from malignant lesions.