Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has detected breast lesions that had previously been sub-clinical (neither palpable nor detected by x-ray mammography). However, MRI's 40% false positive detection rate necessitates biopsy of these sub-clinical lesions to confirm diagnosis. No device exists that would allow this procedure to be performed without open biopsy. Therefore, we propose to design a radio frequency (rf) receiver coil for breast MR imaging with integrated stereotaxic capabilities. This coil would perform dual roles: receiving signal from the breast to form an MR image, and allowing MR imaging-guided biopsy and needle localizations. This coil will be a modification of the 3-turn solenoidal breast coil Tl03, designed by the PI, and currently in clinical use on the l.5-tesla GE Signa imager of MR Imaging center Willoughby Hills, Ohio. Coil T103 is IRB approved, and FDA approval is expected later this year. Fifteen hundred centers in the U.S. alone indicate commercial application potential for this biopsy coil. The PI is a Ph.D. biomedical engineer with over six years experience on 0.3, 0.6, and l.5-tesla MR imagers including: rf receiver coil design, imaging protocol, and pulse sequence modification.
