Since 2007, MRI has become a recommended screening study for the millions of pre- menopausal American women. However, breast MRI has two technical challenges. Poor fat suppression in MRI obscures some tumors. Also poor registration of the breast between annual MRI scans makes it difficult to determine whether a suspicious lesion is actually growing too fast, or is simply a different lesion. We have completed the proof-of-concept laboratory testing of an inexpensive, novel composite PG-foam padding material that will solve both of these problems. Here we plan to adapt this new material to a realistic clinical setting, in collaboration with Michael Buonocore, MD, PhD at UC Davis. PG foam could dramatically improve the detection of early-stage tumors, prior to the metastatic stage of the disease. This research could thereby greatly improve survival rates of patients with breast cancer.

2009 Update:

We have developed a human tissue susceptibility matched pyrolytic graphite (PG) foam composite that results in a
more uniform field by shifting field perturbations away from the region of interest making the magnetic field far
more uniform inside the tissue. In MRI studies, the uniformity of the main field is critical for creating image signal
and contrast and for avoiding image artifacts. This is important for women at high risk for breast cancer since the
American Cancer Society recommends that these high risk women should undergo a breast MRI once a year in
addition to regular mammograms. PG foam is a material with that does not heat, is lightweight and inexpensive,
and is safe to use with MRI. The PG foam can be used as a practical cushion that goes next to the patient's skin,
replacing standard foam cushions that are ubiquitous in the MRI suite.
Specifically, we have shown:
1) Tissue matched PG foams lead to improved field homogeneity in a conventional MRI scanner. This leads to
reduced artifacts and better resolution in the final images.
2) PG foams do not carry currents and are similar to regular foams. Therefore, they do not add additional noise to
the MRI scans, will not heat, and are safe for patient use.
3) PG foam improved the reliability of frequency selective fat suppression in water/fat test phantoms, which could
improve the specificity of breast MRI and increase the robustness of other common applications such as knee, head
and spine imaging. We have obtained human subjects approval to test PG foam on human volunteers as of 6/26/09.