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Digital mammography represents the most sensitive technique to detect and diagnose breast cancer and is hence the preferred method for clinical and screening diagnostic tests. Nevertheless, the absorbed dose in a mammographic procedure can not be neglected even due to the highly radiosensitivity of the breast. In this work we developed a practical method to assess the average absorbed dose both in digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis. A new dose index is here proposed as an easily evaluable dosimetric quantity according to the requests of the European Directive 2013/59 EURATOM.

We performed a study to predict global and local subject-specific Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) exposure in 7T Musculoskeletal (MSK) acquisition sequences. Such prediction, that is not available in current Magnetic Resonance (MR) exams, is possible combining sequences SAR exposure simulated on the generic anatomical model with subject-specific measured B+ 1 maps. The procedure has been implemented with a degenerate birdcage coil specifically designed for knee exams. Results show a good agreement between simulated B+ 1 and B+ 1 magnitude measure in-vivo, while values of global and local SAR calculated are below the recommended limit, respectively 8 W/kg and 20 W/kg.

Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging and Spectroscopy of the muscle is a valuable tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of Neuromuscular Disorders (NMD). New Ultra-High Field (UHF) 7 T MRI systems, with their enhanced Signal-to-Noise Ratio, may offer increased image quality in terms of spatial resolution and/or shorter scanning time compared to lower field systems. In the study of NMD the new features provided by UHF MR may allow the use of functional techniques to improve biochemical and physiological information of skeletal muscle correlated to the pathogenesis and progression of the muscle involvement. This study reports the recent achievements in muscle imaging and spectroscopy obtained at the first Italian 7 T MR scanner available at the IMAGO7 Foundation (Pisa, Italy). Dedicated radio-frequency coils for proton imaging and phosphorous spectroscopy have been designed, developed and validated in vivo, and are now ready for clinical research studies.