From Millennium Technology Inc. This open C-shaped MRI system eases patient comfort and technologist maneuverability. This low cost scanner is build for a wide range of applications. The Virgo™ patient table is detachable and moves on easy rolling castors. Able to accommodate patient weights up to 160 kg, the tabletop has a range of motion of 30 cm in the lateral direction and 90cm in the longitudinal direction. Images generated with this scanner can only be viewed (without data loss) on Millennium's proprietary viewing software.

From Siemens Medical Systems;
A new, powerful, compact player in MRI. For both, patients and health care professionals, the mid-field has realized a giant step to cost efficient quality care. Obese patients and people with claustrophobia appreciate the comfortable side loading. The smallest pole diameter - 137 cm (54 inches) allows for optimal patient comfort.

(MR mammography) Magnetic resonance imaging of the breast is particularly useful in evaluation of newly diagnosed breast cancer, in women whose breast tissue is mammographically very dense and for screening in women with a high lifetime risk of breast cancer because of their family history or genetic disposition.
Breast MRI can be performed on all standard whole body magnets at a field strength of 0.5 T - 1.5 Tesla. Powerful gradient strengths over 15 mT/m will help to improve the balance between spatial resolution, scanning speed, and volume coverage. The use of a dedicated bilateral breast coil is obligatory.
Malignant lesions release angiogenic factors that increase local vessel density and vessel permeability. Breast cancer is detectable due to the strong enhancement in dynamic breast imaging that peaks early (about 1-2 min.) after contrast medium injection. If breast cancer is suspected, a breast biopsy may be necessary to secure the diagnosis.

See also Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI, Biopsy and MR Guided Interventions.

Requirements in breast MRI procedures:
For Ultrasound Imaging (USI) see Breast Ultrasound at Medical-Ultrasound-Imaging.com.

See also the related poll result: 'MRI will have replaced 50% of x-ray exams by'

A technique, which produces a 3 dimensional image of an object. The advantage of this approach is that the signal, acquired from the entire volume has an increased SNR. 'Slices' are defined by a second phase encoded axis, which divides the volume into 'partitions'. There is no gap between the slices in 3D volume imaging, therefore thin slices are possible. The Gz phase encoding gradient is set for several slices in one. But 3D takes more time with thin slices because of this phase encoding gradient. With conventional thin slice imaging, the SNR is poor, with 3D volume imaging this is not the case because the slab (volume) is responsible for SNR.

Exited measurement volume for 3D imaging. Slices are defined by a second phase encoded axis, which divides the volume into partitions without a gap.