Optimised Breast Tomosynthesis with a Novel CMOS Flat Panel Detector

Breast tomosynthesis is a promising technology for breast imaging Although existing tomosynthesis systems using detector technology developed for FFDM and uniform acquisition parameters have demonstrated the potential to improve the effectiveness of breast screening, the full potential of tomosynthesis is yet to be realised The effectiveness of tomosynthesis depends on multiple factors, including acquisition geometry, number of projections, reconstruction software and X-ray detector performance In this study, the authors investigated the use of a specially designed 29 cm x 23 cm CMOS flat panel X-ray detector with a novel Active Pixel Sensor with high spatial resolution, high speed read-out, low noise, negligible image lag and a unique ability to reconfigure imaging parameters such as resolution and gain during an acquisition Advanced tomosynthesis acquisition methods were used with the new detector including non-uniform spacing of projection views This combination of optimised X-ray detector and optimised acquisition methods provides enhanced imaging performance.