T1 -based sensing of mammographic density using single-sided portable NMR

A single-sided NMR instrument was used to investigate the ability of the T1 relaxation constant to distinguish between regions of low and high mammographic density in human breast tissue.Measurements were performed on 5 breast slices obtained from 3 women undergoing breast reduction surgery or prophylactic mastectomy.T1 values measured in regions of high mammographic density in both the full breast slices (T1 = 170 ± 30 ms) and excised regions (T1 = 160 ± 30 ms) were found to be significantly different (P