Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a convenient and simple method for visualizing in color the features of gynecologic lesions by combining T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance images using RGB (red-green-blue) color channels.
Materials and methods: T1- and T2-weighted film images of gynecologic lesions were digitized using a film-scanner. The signal intensities of fat on T1-weighted images were converted to 133% of those on T2-weighted images. Additive multicolored images in the RGB color system were produced from T1- and T2-weighted images using color axes of a complementary color pair for a total of 84 typical gynecological lesions.
Results: Tissues were displayed in color as follows: fat: light tan; urine: light blue: muscle: dark brown; endometrium: light blue; leiomyomas with cystic degeneration: cyanblue; cellular leiomyoma: yellowish brown; endometrial cyst: orange. The images of female intrapelvic structures and gynecologic lesions were semi-natural in appearance.
Conclusion: Standardization of fat intensities provides a simple method for multicolored visualization of the features of gynecologic lesions.