Characterization of scatter radiation in cone beam CT mammography

Cone beam CT mammography (CBCTM) is an emerging breast imaging technology and is currently under intensive investigation [1-3]. One of the major challenges in CBCTM is to understand the characteristics of scatter radiation and to find ways to reduce or correct its degrading effects. Since the breast shape, geometry and image formation process are significantly different from conventional mammography, all system components and parameters such as target/filter combination, kVp range, source to image distance, detector design etc. should be examined and optimized. In optimizing CBCTM systems, it is important to have knowledge of how different imaging parameters affect the recorded scatter within the image. In this study, a GEANT4 based Monte Carlo simulation package (GATE) was used to investigate the scatter magnitude and its’ distribution in CBCTM. The influences of different air gaps, kVp settings, breast sizes and breast composition on the scatter primary ratio (SPR) and scatter profiles were examined. In general, the scatter to primary ratio (SPR) is strongly dependent on the breast size and air gap, and is only moderately dependent on the kVp setting and breast composition. These results may be used for optimization of CBCTM systems, as well as for developing scatter correction methods.