3D Doppler technology contributes significantly to evaluating suspicious breast lesions, researchers report in this month's issue of Radiology.

Researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor studied 78 women with palpable or mammographic abnormalities that were already confirmed by biopsies. Of the 78 lesions, 46 were benign and 32 were malignant.

A series of color Doppler images were acquired for each patient to reconstruct the volume of a suspicious mass. There were six Doppler vascularity measurements calculated. Radiologist grayscale ratings and patient's age were all taken into account.

The researchers concluded that the images produced by 3D Doppler technology helped "considerably" to identify malignant breast tissue.