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Purpose: This study investigates the efficacy of 3 Tesla magnetic resonance (MR) microimaging for characterisation of primary melanoma. Technologies currently in use for non-invasive characterization of melanoma (confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography, or high frequency ultrasound) are limited by restricted penetration depth. In contrast, MR microimaging can determine the full depth of all tumors.

Methods: Five patients with primary melanomas of lateral dimension 1cm or greater were imaged with a 3.7 cm surface coil using a 3D gradient echo sequence (1). Nominal spatial resolution was 0.18× 0.12 mm in-plane, with 1 to 2.0 mm slice thickness. Tumour size was measured as the lateral an intradermal extent of hyperintense change in the epidermis.

Results: High quality images were obtained from all five tumours. There was close correlation between the tumor surface dimensions, Breslow thickness …