MRI-Guided Breast Biopsy System

The system has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The system was developed by Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc. (North Andover, MA, USA). The MRI-guided interventional system successfully completed its first biopsy procedure when doctors at Faulkner Hospital (Boston, MA, USA) were able to identify a suspicious lesion that was undetected by mammography or ultrasound and performed a core biopsy that proved the lesion to be malignant.

"Breast MRI is able to detect small lesions not detectable by ultrasound or mammography. In many instances, with the MR images, we are able to go back and find the lesion with ultrasound and perform the biopsy,” said Elsie Levin, M.D., associate director of the Faulkner-Sagoff Breast Imaging & Diagnostic Center. Often, she says, there are times when they are unable to determine its location, due to the size or surrounding dense tissue and then MRI guidance is the only alternative.

"Our first patient was at high risk due to family history and had dense breast tissue,” added Dr. Levin. "The MRI exam showed a suspicious mass in the right breast. The ultrasound-guided biopsy was technically difficult to read and the lesion was not adequately sampled. The repeat biopsy with MRI guidance confirmed the presence of a well-differentiated invasive ductal carcinoma, which has an excellent prognosis when detected at this size.”




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