Simulation and assessment of realistic breast lesions using fractal growth models

A new method of generating realistic three dimensional simulated breast lesions known as diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) is presented, and compared with the random walk (RW) method. Both methods of lesion simulation utilize a physics-based method for inserting these simulated lesions into 2D clinical mammogram images that takes into account the polychromatic x-ray spectrum, local glandularity and scatter. DLA and RW masses were assessed for realism via a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) study with nine observers. The study comprised 150 images of which 50 were real pathology proven mammograms, 50 were normal mammograms with RW inserted masses and 50 were normal mammograms with DLA inserted masses. The average area under the ROC curve for the DLA method was 0.55 (95% confidence interval 0.51-0.59) compared to 0.60 (95% confidence interval 0.56-0.63) for the RW method. The observer study results suggest that the DLA method produced more realistic masses with more variability in shape compared to the RW method. DLA generated lesions can overcome the lack of complexity in structure and shape in many current methods of mass simulation.

[1]  Susan M. Astley,et al.  Synthesising Malignant Breast Masses in Normal Mammograms , 2010, Digital Mammography / IWDM.

[2]  Aruna A. Vedula,et al.  A computer simulation study comparing lesion detection accuracy with digital mammography, breast tomosynthesis, and cone-beam CT breast imaging. , 2006, Medical physics.

[3]  D. A. BRUNNING,et al.  European Journal of Cancer , 1966, Nature.

[4]  Mark Holden,et al.  Physics in Medicine and Biology , 1956, Nature.

[5]  H. Bosmans,et al.  The simulation of 3D microcalcification clusters in 2D digital mammography and breast tomosynthesis. , 2011, Medical physics.

[6]  L. Sander,et al.  Diffusion-limited aggregation, a kinetic critical phenomenon , 1981 .

[7]  Ralph Highnam,et al.  Simulating disease in mammography , 2001 .

[8]  B. Krauskopf,et al.  Proc of SPIE , 2003 .

[9]  Jovan G. Brankov,et al.  Development of a computational three-dimensional breast lesion phantom model , 2010, Medical Imaging.

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

[11]  Sabrina S Wilson.  Radiology , 1938, Glasgow Medical Journal.

[12]  Kenneth C. Young,et al.  Monte Carlo Simulation of Scatter Field for Calculation of Contrast of Discs in Synthetic CDMAM Images , 2010, Digital Mammography / IWDM.

[13]  Nico Karssemeijer,et al.  Robust Breast Composition Measurement - VolparaTM , 2010, Digital Mammography / IWDM.

[14]  K Bliznakova,et al.  A three-dimensional breast software phantom for mammography simulation. , 2003, Physics in medicine and biology.

[15]  Karen Willcox,et al.  Kinetics and kinematics for translational motions in microgravity during parabolic flight. , 2009, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[16]  D R Dance,et al.  Image resampling effects in mammographic image simulation. , 2011, Physics in medicine and biology.

[17]  Caroline Boggis,et al.  Evaluating the realism of synthetically generated mammographic lesions: an observer study , 2010, Medical Imaging.

[18]  Kenneth C. Young,et al.  Breast Cancer: Advances in X-ray mammography , 2010 .

[19]  Geographical distribution of breast cancers on the mammogram: an interval cancer database. , 2001, The British journal of radiology.

[20]  Nicholas A. Lockerbie,et al.  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A , 2014 .

[21]  K. Bliznakova,et al.  Modelling of Irregular Breast Lesions , 2009 .

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

[23]  Sabine Siesling,et al.  Recent trends of cancer in Europe: a combined approach of incidence, survival and mortality for 17 cancer sites since the 1990s. , 2008, European journal of cancer.

[24]  L. Costaridou,et al.  Simulating the mammographic appearance of circumscribed lesions , 2003, European Radiology.

[25]  J. A. Campbell,et al.  ACADEMIC RADIOLOGY. , 1965, The American journal of roentgenology, radium therapy, and nuclear medicine.

[26]  M Ruschin,et al.  In-plane visibility of lesions using breast tomosynthesis and digital mammography. , 2010, Medical physics.

[27]  Ehsan Samei,et al.  Simulation of mammographic lesions. , 2006, Academic radiology.

[28]  J. Hanley,et al.  The meaning and use of the area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. , 1982, Radiology.

[29]  Michael D. Abràmoff,et al.  Image processing with ImageJ , 2004 .

[30]  October I.  Physical Review Letters , 2022 .

[31]  M Ruschin,et al.  Using simple mathematical functions to simulate pathological structures--input for digital mammography clinical trial. , 2005, Radiation protection dosimetry.

[32]  Gyula Faigel,et al.  X-Ray Holography , 1999 .

[33]  E. W. Shrigley.  Medical Physics , 1944, British medical journal.