Abbreviated Breast MR Protocol

at the Radboud University Medical Center

Ritse M. Mann, M.D., Ph.D.^1,2; Lejla Kočo, MSc¹

¹ Department of Imaging, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
² Department of Radiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute (Antoni van Leeuwenhoek), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

At the Radboud University Medical Center, different MRI protocols are used for breast imaging with MRI depending on the purpose.

• An approximately 20-minute MRI protocol for diagnostic imaging
• An approximately 8-minute abbreviated MRI (abMRI) protocol for screening

The motivation to implement abbreviated breast MR imaging (abMRI) at the Radboud was to increase cost-effectiveness.
The idea was to be able to scan more women within the same timeframe with MRI. This would therefore allow greater access to MRI screening to more women and reduce the time women had to spend inside the MRI scanner (anxiety, claustrophobia, lying still).
With the abbreviated MRI protocol three patients can be scanned per hour. If DWI is omitted, it is also possible to scan four patients in one hour.
Another important benefit is that the MRI scanner is almost continuously in use.