The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a set of standards for breast MRI based on its newly developed phantoms.
The standards published online March 23 in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging detail the NIST's two prototype breast phantoms, which were tested on MRI systems from two manufacturers in three configurations. Designed to fit most major MRI designs and to meet a full range of common clinical imaging needs, the phantoms produced accurate, quantitative images that could be used to evaluate common imaging procedures, the NIST concluded.
One phantom unit is for conventional MRI scans based on magnetic properties of hydrogen atoms. The second is intended for diffusion-tensor MRI, which measures the motion of water molecules within the breast.
