Radiology, Vol 187, 89-93, Copyright © 1993 by Radiological Society of North America
Selective MR imaging of silicone with the three-point Dixon technique
E Schneider and TW Chan
Applied Science Laboratory, GE Medical Systems, Waukesha, WI 53188.
Selective magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of silicone with the three- point
Dixon technique was evaluated. This technique, which conventionally allows
separation of lipid and water signals, was modified to allow calculation of
a silicone-only image and a lipid- water image. Imaging of fat and silicone
implant phantoms was performed with a 1.5-T imager and was optimized in
vivo in two volunteers who had breast reconstruction or augmentation. Six
additional volunteers were then imaged to evaluate selective MR imaging of
silicone. With an optimum frequency shift of 105 Hz, a repetition time of
1,000 msec, and an echo time of 28 msec, the modified three-point Dixon
technique produced a silicone-only image containing 97.0% +/- 1.0 (standard
deviation) of the total silicone signal, 2.6% +/- 0.5 of the fat signal,
and 16.6% +/- 6.4 of the water signal. The silicone-fat contrast-to-noise
ratio was 47.9 +/- 12.1. This method may be potentially useful in the
evaluation of implant-related complications such as rupture.
