Improvements and Performance of Diagnostic Compositional Imaging Using a Novel Dual-Energy X-ray Technique

Determine whether or not improvements to the calibration procedure for a novel dual-energy x-ray mammography technique improve the uniformity, accuracy, and/or reproducibility of the measured breast composition. The long-term goal of this project is to develop a technique that will improve the specificity of mammography diagnosis. Energy dependent corrections for light-field, dark-field, and Heel effect were made for each measurement. A total of 20 women who were scheduled for additional imaging prior to biopsy underwent an additional dual-energy/low dose full-field digital mammography scan as part of a pilot study investigating the use of breast composition measures in mammography. The estimated water/lipid/protein content of suspicious lesions were measured. The modified x-ray calibration procedure resulted in over a 3-fold improvement in the uniformity of a flat-field calibration phantom with known breast density. Some preliminary results from women are available and show that different types of breast lesions have different compositions.