Investigation of the optimal b-value to detect breast tumors with diffusion weighted imaging by 1.5-T MRI

BACKGROUND Previous studies have reported that the signal attenuation of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) for normal breast tissue and tumor were well fitted by a monoexponential and a biexponential function, respectively. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal b-value to detect breast tumors from DWI signal attenuations. METHODS Sixty-four subjects with breast cancer underwent DWI using six b-values up to 3500 s/mm2. The signal attenuations of normal breast and tumor were fitted by mono- and biexponential functions, respectively. The maximum contrast b-values were estimated and compared in terms of frequency. RESULTS In almost all cases, the contrast increased with a b-value from 0 to approximately 1500 s/mm2. For b > 1500 s/mm2, the contrast decreased. The highest contrast b-value in the range of 0 to 2500 s/mm2 most frequently was b = 1500 and the next most frequent was 1400 s/mm2. Comparing sensitivity and specificity between b = 700 and b = 1400 s/mm2, b =1400 s/mm2 was slightly superior. CONCLUSION Based on these results, DWI with a b-value of approximately 1400-1500 s/mm2 is recommended for optimizing breast tumor detectability.