Measurement of breast-tissue x-ray attenuation by spectral mammography: first results on cyst fluid

Knowledge of x-ray attenuation is essential for developing and evaluating x-ray imaging technologies. For instance, techniques to better characterize cysts at mammography screening would be highly desirable to reduce recalls, but the development is hampered by the lack of attenuation data for cysts. We have developed a method to measure xray attenuation of tissue samples using a prototype photon-counting spectral mammography unit. Spectral (energyresolved) images were acquired and the image signal was mapped to two known reference materials, which were used to derive the x-ray attenuation as a function of energy. We have measured the attenuation of 25 samples of breast cyst fluid. Spectral measurements of water samples showed consistent results compared to published attenuation values.

[1]  FRANK E. CARROLL,et al.  Attenuation of Monochromatic X-Rays by Normal and Abnormal Breast Tissues , 1994, Investigative radiology.

[2]  P. C. Johns,et al.  X-ray characterisation of normal and neoplastic breast tissues. , 1987, Physics in medicine and biology.

[3]  D. Dreossi,et al.  Measurement of the linear attenuation coefficients of breast tissues by synchrotron radiation computed tomography , 2010, Physics in medicine and biology.

[4]  S. Kappadath,et al.  Quantitative evaluation of dual-energy digital mammography for calcification imaging. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[5]  M J Yaffe,et al.  Theoretical optimization of dual-energy x-ray imaging with application to mammography. , 1985, Medical physics.

[6]  Björn Cederström,et al.  Scatter rejection in multislit digital mammography. , 2006, Medical physics.

[7]  J. H. Hubbell,et al.  XCOM: Photon Cross Section Database (version 1.2) , 1999 .

[8]  J. S. Laughlin,et al.  Absorbed radiation dose in mammography. , 1979, Radiology.

[9]  Erik Fredenberg,et al.  Energy resolution of a photon-counting silicon strip detector , 2010, 2101.07789.

[10]  A. Macovski,et al.  Energy-selective reconstructions in X-ray computerised tomography , 1976, Physics in medicine and biology.

[11]  T. R. Fewell,et al.  Molybdenum, rhodium, and tungsten anode spectral models using interpolating polynomials with application to mammography. , 1997, Medical physics.

[12]  Erik Fredenberg,et al.  Lesion characterization using spectral mammography , 2012, Medical Imaging.

[13]  A. Tomal,et al.  Experimental determination of linear attenuation coefficient of normal, benign and malignant breast tissues , 2010 .

[14]  Sabee Molloi,et al.  Quantification of breast density with spectral mammography based on a scanned multi-slit photon-counting detector: a feasibility study , 2012, Physics in medicine and biology.

[15]  M Danielsson,et al.  Detective quantum efficiency dependence on x-ray energy weighting in mammography. , 1999, Medical physics.

[16]  Erik Fredenberg,et al.  Observer model optimization of a spectral mammography system , 2010, Medical Imaging.

[17]  A. Macovski,et al.  Generalized image combinations in dual KVP digital radiography. , 1981, Medical physics.

[18]  R. F. Wagner,et al.  SNR and DQE analysis of broad spectrum X-ray imaging , 1985 .

[19]  M Gambaccini,et al.  Dual-energy imaging in full-field digital mammography: a phantom study. , 2003, Physics in medicine and biology.