Simultaneous estimation and segmentation of T ₁ map for breast parenchyma measurement

Breast density has been shown to be an independent risk factor for breast cancer. In order to segment breast parenchyma, which has been proposed as a biomarker of breast cancer risk, we present an integrated algorithm for simultaneous T ₁ map estimation and segmentation, using a series of magnetic resonance (MR) breast images. The advantage of using this algorithm is that the step of T ₁ map estimation (E-Step) and the step of T ₁ map based tissue segmentation (S-Step) can benefit each other. Since the estimated T ₁ map can be noisy due to the complexity of T ₁ estimation method, the tentative tissue segmentation results from S-Step can help perform the edge-preserving smoothing on the estimated T ₁ map in E-Step, thus removing noises and also preserving tissue boundaries. On the other hand, the improved estimation of T ₁ map from E-Step can help segment breast tissues in a more accurate and less noisy way. Therefore, by repeating these steps, we can simultaneously obtain better results for both T ₁ map estimation and segmentation. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in breast tissue segmentation and parenchyma volume measurement.