Sensing mammographic density using single-sided portable Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Maher Alqurashi; Konstantin I Momot; Ali Aamry; H I Almohammed; Hussin Aamri; Yehia H Johary; Fouad A Abolaban; Abdelmoneim Sulieman

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.12.022

Sensing mammographic density using single-sided portable Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 Apr;29(4):2447-2454. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.12.022. Epub 2021 Dec 16.

Authors

Maher Alqurashi¹, Konstantin I Momot^{2

3}, Ali Aamry⁴, H I Almohammed⁵, Hussin Aamri⁶, Yehia H Johary⁷, Fouad A Abolaban⁸, Abdelmoneim Sulieman⁹

Affiliations

¹ Radiology Department, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.
³ Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.
⁴ Nuclear Medicine Department, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Medical Physics Department, King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Medical Physics Department, General Directorate of Health Affairs in Aseer Region, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Nuclear Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, P. O. Box 80221, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 422, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

This research paper presents a quantitative approach to sensing mammographic density (MD) using single-sided portable Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). It focuses on three main techniques: spin-lattice relaxation (recovery) time (T₁), spin-spin relaxation (decay) time (T₂), and Diffusion (D) techniques by testing whether or not the aforementioned techniques are in agreement with the gold standard and with each other when used for scanning breast tissue specimens with a variety of mammographic densities (MDs). The high mammographic density (HMD), intermediate MD, and low mammographic density (LMD) regions of each slice were identified according to the mammogram images. Subsequently, the grayscale values for these regions were quantified. One region was measured from the first sample while the remaining ones were measured from the second sample. The same areas were then exposed to portable NMR, and the sequences used as following: the stimulated echo sequence for diffusion (D), the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence for T₂, and saturation recovery sequence for T₁. The correlations between the grayscale values and NMR techniques were strongly correlated. The Pearson correlation coefficient, R, of T₁ (%) versus grayscale value, D (%) versus grayscale value, and T₂ (%) versus grayscale value, was 0.91, 0.91, and 0.93, respectively. Furthermore, the relative water content of the breast slices based on T₁, T₂, and diffusion (D) measurements were strongly in agreement with each other. The Pearson correlation coefficient, R, of D (%) versus T₁ (%), D (%) versus T₂ (%), and T₁ (%) versus T₂ (%), was 0.984, 0.966, and 0.9868, respectively. The three pulse sequences can be employed in a portable NMR device to deliver continuous quantitative measurements of MD in breast tissue samples. As a result, the method demonstrated to be acceptable for determining the distribution of MDs among breast tissue samples without the need for additional qualitative analysis.

Keywords: Breast cancer; MRI; Mammographic density; NMR; Relaxation time.