Silicone-Specific Imaging Using an Inversion-Recovery-Prepared Fast Three-Point Dixon Technique

Purpose: To demonstrate a new hybrid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique capable of simultaneously generating water-specific and silicone-specific images in a single acquisition. Materials and Methods: This technique combines short TI inversion-recovery (STIR) technique for robust fat suppression with an efficient fast spin-echo-based three-point Dixon technique for robust separation of remaining water and silicone in the presence of field inhomogeneities. Images demonstrating the feasibility of the technique were acquired with a 1.5-Tesla scanner in a phantom and in a volunteer with both saline and silicone implants in vivo. Results: The new technique provided water-specific and silicone-specific images of diagnostic quality. Separation of the water and silicone chemical species was complete and satisfactory. Compared with a chemical shift-selective technique, the new technique does not rely heavily on field homogeneity and requires the same or even less scan time to acquire images with similar scan parameters, resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Conclusion: The feasibility and potential application of the new technique were demonstrated via imaging a phantom and a silicone breast prosthesis in vivo, and it may be used for more consistent imaging of the silicone implants without compromising the image quality or overall scan time.