Energy dispersive X-ray diffraction computed tomography of breast-simulating phantoms and a tissue sample

Breast lesions and normal tissue have different characteristics of density and molecular arrangement that affect their diffraction patterns. X-ray diffraction can be used to determine the spatial structure of such tissues at the atomic and molecular level and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Diffraction Computed Tomography (EDXRDCT) can be used to produce 2-dimensional images of cross sections of the samples. The purpose of this work is to use an EDXRDCT system to find the limiting visibility for details that simulate breast lesions. Results are presented for EDXRDCT images of samples of different materials simulating breast tissue contrast and shapes. For simple circular details, the contrast between details and background in the images was measured with the goal of simulating the contrast between real breast tissue components. The limiting visible diameter was measured as a function of detail diameter for different combinations of scanning and geometrical parameters. Images of more complex test objects were assessed in terms of both contrast and accuracy of shape reproduction, evaluating the feasibility of using shape analysis as an additional parameter for lesion identification. The optimum combination of parameters are intended to be applied to the scanning of waxed breast tissue blocks.