At NYU Langone Health’s Division of Breast Imaging, we use the most advanced imaging technologies to provide comprehensive screening, diagnostic, and interventional imaging services for breast diseases.
We perform three-dimensional (3D) mammography, ultrasound, and MRI, to provide comprehensive screening, diagnostic, and interventional biopsy services for breast disease. The division also trains medical students, residents, and fellows to practice evidence-based medicine and maintain excellence in patient care.
Under the leadership of Hildegard B. Toth, MD, chief of breast imaging, our nationally recognized team of fellowship-trained breast imaging specialists are dedicated to advancing the field through breast cancer research, education, and patient care.
Many faculty members hold leadership positions in major national radiology organizations including the American College of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America, and the Society of Breast Imaging. Members of our division regularly publish in prestigious peer-reviewed journals, and members are invited speakers to national and international conferences.
Breast Imaging Education
Our faculty is dedicated to providing radiology training for medical students, as well as training residents and fellows in the latest breast imaging techniques.
At NYU Grossman School of Medicine, students have the option of participating in breast imaging rotations at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue during the breast imaging elective and radiology selective course, as part of the MD curriculum.
Physicians who participate in our radiology residencies are integrated members of the breast imaging team at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, Laura Perlmutter Center for Women’s Imaging, and Bellevue. Residents work closely with faculty to interpret breast cancer screening and diagnostic mammograms, breast ultrasound, and breast MRI studies. Trainees also perform image-guided breast procedures, including ultrasound-guided, stereotactic-guided, and MRI-guided biopsies. We also teach preoperative image-guided localizations with the SAVI SCOUT® surgical guidance system and wire placement.
Our Breast Imaging Fellowship offers radiologists subspecialty training in a variety of practice environments. Fellows work closely with faculty to become experts in all aspects of breast imaging and intervention.
Breast Imaging Research
Researchers in our division study advanced breast imaging techniques, artificial intelligence (AI), and precision medicine to advance image-based approaches to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, including mammography, breast MRI, and breast tomosynthesis.
We have multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded research projects underway to enhance breast cancer screening procedures to detect breast diseases earlier, reduce disease recurrence, and improve survival rates.
Advanced Breast MRI Techniques
Our breast imaging specialists partner with researchers at the NYU Langone Radiology—Center for Biomedical Imaging and Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R) to develop new advanced MRI techniques. For example, our team is investigating the role of diffusion-weighted imaging, including intravoxel incoherent motion, and compressed sensing techniques, to detect and better characterize breast cancers.
To improve cancer detection and characterization, we’ve also implemented ultrafast temporal resolution–abbreviated breast MRI in clinical cases. Our investigators are evaluating the accuracy of this novel technique with the goal of decreasing short-term imaging follow-up recommendations for patients with benign breast biopsy, and increasing the positive predictive value of MRI-guided breast biopsy.
As part of efforts to expand cancer characterization and risk assessment, our team is studying the breast tumor microenvironment and developing imaging biomarkers to evaluate tumor heterogeneity. We have pioneered a fast-spectroscopic imaging method for breast cancer to measure different types of fatty acids in the breast and investigate how these fatty acids, particularly saturated fatty acids, are associated with cancer development.
Our researchers are also designing and developing homegrown multinuclear radiofrequency (RF) coils that allow for MRI with sodium (23Na-MRI) and MR spectroscopy with phosphorus (31P-MRS) to be performed with our ultra-high-field 3-Tesla (3T) and 7T magnets. We are currently evaluating the role of 23Na-MRI to assess the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with triple-negative breast cancer.
Artificial Intelligence and Precision Medicine
We collaborate with NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Science and NYU Center for Data Science on research that expands AI in biomedical imaging, specifically AI to detect breast cancer earlier and improve the diagnostic accuracy of a variety of breast imaging examinations.
Our researchers have developed and evaluated an image classification algorithm to improve the accuracy of screening mammograms and are currently investigating mechanisms to incorporate deep convolutional learning neural networks into clinical practice. A study of neural networks for interpretation of screening digital breast tomosynthesis is ongoing.
We also plan to develop a machine learning–based approach for continuous radial acquisitions DCE-MRI of the breast. Researchers in our division are working on advanced deep learning algorithms to close the loop between breast image reconstruction and the diagnostic interpretation of breast images by training image reconstruction and diagnostic classification together in an end-to-end fashion.
Other projects include evaluating an AI aid for characterizing lesions on breast ultrasound, with the goal of improving the specificity and positive predictive value of ultrasound for detecting breast cancer.
Our team also researches targets for precision medicine—therapies that are geared toward specific groups of patients based on genetic and molecular characteristics. As part of these efforts, we are exploring a new way to correlate image-guided breast biopsy results with serum analysis of microRNA from patients being screened for breast cancer and are using radiogenomic analysis to correlate breast MRI findings with breast cancer subtypes.
Entrustable Professional Activities Toolkit
Members of our faculty have collaborated with researchers from other institutions to develop a learning and assessment guide for breast imaging professionals called entrustable professional activities (EPAs). This toolkit allows experienced attending physicians to assess the readiness of individual residents and fellows to practice independently as breast imagers. Learn more about our EPAs toolkit for breast imagers.
Breast Imaging Clinical Services
We provide comprehensive screening, diagnostic, and interventional imaging services for breast diseases at multiple sites across NYU Langone, including the Laura Perlmutter Center for Women’s Imaging, Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health, and NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, as well as NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur.
Our healthcare providers use the most advanced imaging technologies to perform breast cancer screening, including digital breast tomosynthesis, diagnostic mammograms, 3T ultrafast breast MRI, and handheld ultrasound.
