Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast — or breast MRI — is a test used to detect breast cancer and other abnormalities in the breast.

A breast MRI captures multiple images of your breast. Breast MRI images are combined, using a computer, to create detailed pictures.

A breast MRI usually is performed after you have a biopsy that's positive for cancer. Breast MRI can show your health care provider the extent of the disease.

Breast MRI also may be used with mammography as a screening tool for detecting breast cancer in some people. This includes women with a high risk of breast cancer, who have a strong family history of breast cancer or who have hereditary breast cancer gene changes.

However, in most cases a non-contrast MRI is an effective exam for imaging the body’s organs. Even without the intravenous contrast, MRI can detect pathology in most organs and in some cases the pathology is made less visible on a contrast MRI than a non-contrast scan. For example, non-contrast scans provide greater images of blood vessel activity to detect aneurysms and blocked blood vessels.1 The results of an MRI procedure without contrast are just as valuable and relevant as those done with the use of a contrast agent.