# Breast MRI coils and abbreviated breast MRI

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/breast-mri-coils-abbreviated-mri/  
OnCo record `breast-mri-coils-abbreviated-mri` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Breast MRI is the most sensitive breast scan, done lying face down with the breasts in a special coil. Abbreviated protocols cut the scan from half an hour to a few minutes, which makes MRI screening of women with dense breasts or high risk affordable.

## Summary

Breast MRI is acquired prone, with the breasts hanging into a dedicated multi-channel radiofrequency coil that provides the signal for high-resolution imaging and, in biopsy-capable designs, open access for MRI-guided vacuum biopsy; coils are made by the scanner vendors and specialist firms and are used on 1.5 T and 3 T systems. The standard protocol takes 20 to 40 minutes: fat-suppressed T2 images, diffusion, and a dynamic series before and several times after gadolinium contrast to characterise how lesions enhance and wash out. Abbreviated MRI, proposed in 2014, keeps only the pre-contrast and first post-contrast images with a subtraction and maximum-intensity projection, taking about three minutes of scan time and a minute of reading, while detecting cancers at a rate similar to the full protocol. The ECOG-ACRIN EA1141 trial found abbreviated MRI detected more invasive cancers than tomosynthesis in women with dense breasts, and the Dutch DENSE trial showed that supplemental MRI reduced interval cancers in women with extremely dense breasts. MRI screening is already standard for BRCA carriers and other high-risk women.

The limits are gadolinium injection, false positives that generate biopsies, scanner capacity and price, contraindications from implants and claustrophobia, and the need for coil-equipped scanners and trained readers; abbreviated protocols address the time and cost but not the contrast or the false-positive rate.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: machines-wave2
- Principle: A dedicated prone multi-channel breast coil supplies the signal for dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI; abbreviated protocols acquire only the pre-contrast and first post-contrast series, exploiting the early enhancement of cancers to shorten scan and reading time.
- Since: 2014
- Strengths: Most sensitive breast imaging test; Abbreviated protocols make screening affordable; Randomised evidence in dense breasts
- Limitations: Gadolinium contrast and false positives; Scanner capacity and cost; Implants and claustrophobia exclude some women

## Sources

- Kuhl et al., Abbreviated breast MRI for supplemental screening (JCO 2014): https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2013.52.5386
- Comstock et al., Comparison of abbreviated breast MRI vs digital breast tomosynthesis for breast cancer detection among women with dense breasts undergoing screening (JAMA 2020): https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.0572
- Bakker et al., Supplemental MRI screening for women with extremely dense breast tissue (NEJM 2019): https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1903986

## Connected records

- technologies: [AI in radiology](https://onco.cc/technologies/radiology-ai-screening/), [AI-assisted mammography screening](https://onco.cc/technologies/ai-mammography-screening/), [Contrast-enhanced mammography](https://onco.cc/technologies/contrast-enhanced-mammography/), [Germline (hereditary) testing](https://onco.cc/technologies/germline-testing/), [Mammography & tomosynthesis](https://onco.cc/technologies/mammography/), [MRI](https://onco.cc/technologies/mri/), [MRI field strengths: 1.5 T, 3 T and 7 T](https://onco.cc/technologies/mri-field-strengths/), [Whole-body MRI](https://onco.cc/technologies/whole-body-mri/)
- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/)
- terms: [Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)](https://onco.cc/terms/dcis/)
- fronts: [Early Detection & Screening](https://onco.cc/fronts/early-detection/), [Imaging](https://onco.cc/fronts/imaging/)
- companies: [Canon Medical Systems](https://onco.cc/companies/canon-medical/), [GE HealthCare](https://onco.cc/companies/ge-healthcare/), [Philips](https://onco.cc/companies/philips/), [Siemens Healthineers](https://onco.cc/companies/siemens-healthineers/), [United Imaging](https://onco.cc/companies/united-imaging/)

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