Hardware accelerated visualization of parametrically mapped dynamic breast MRI data

Paper in proceeding, 2007

We present a new approach to visualising parametric vol-umes obtained in voxel-wise model fitting of dynamic contrast-enhanced(DCE) MRI data of the breast. The visualisation makes use of hardware-accelerated rendering to obtain an interactive, 3D colour-correct maxi-mum intensity projection (MIP). The method has been realised in soft-ware that permits the user to not only interactively visualise the paramet-ric volume but also to delineate 3D regions of interest using a 2D slice-wise interface. Experimental results, based on 14 DCE-MRI data setsfrom routine clinical practice, show that using the visualisation/tracingtool a medically qualified operator can achieve the same sensitivity forthe detection of malignancy as a radiologist using conventional manualinterpretation, but with better specificity. The results demonstrate thatthe visualisation methodology/software has potential as a tool for assist-ing the radiologist with the task of interpreting 4D DCE-MRI data inthe routine clinical setting.