| 1. |
- Dustler, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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The Effect of Breast Positioning on Breast Compression in Mammography: a Pressure Distribution Perspective
- 2012
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In: Medical Imaging 2012: Physics of Medical Imaging. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. ; 8313
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The standard procedure at mammography is to compress the breast in order to improve image quality, better separate tissue components and reduce absorbed dose to the breast. Traditionally, compression guidelines have been based on applied force, rather than actual thickness reduction. Structures such as the pectoral muscle are stiffer than breast tissue and if compressed along with it, as in the MLO-projection, might absorb much of the applied force. This study investigated the difference in compression of breasts before and after they were repositioned to exclude 1 cm of the juxtathoracic part. Twenty-one women were included in the study. The distribution of compression pressure was measured using thin FSR (Force Sensing Resistor) pressure sensors attached to the compression paddle. Breast thickness and compression force were measured by the mammographic device. Compared to standard positioning the repositioned breasts were thinner by 4.4 +/- 2.3 mm (P < 0.001) (from 50.3 mm to 45.9 mm) and had a 12.3 +/- 24.5 cm(2) (P = 0.032) larger area over which pressure was distributed (from 97.6 cm(2) to 109.9 cm(2)), despite less of the breast being included in the projection. This indicates that the inclusion of the pectoral muscle and other juxtathoracic structures in the MLO-projection substantially affects pressure distribution and prevents proper compression of the breast. The results suggest that the exact positioning of the MLO-projection should be carefully evaluated in order to find a balance between breast compression and tissue inclusion.
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| 2. |
- Förnvik, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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A human observer study for evaluation and optimization of reconstruction methods in breast tomosynthesis using clinical cases
- 2011
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In: Medical Imaging 2011: Physics of Medical Imaging. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. ; 7961, s. 79615-79615
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In breast tomosynthesis1 (BT) a number of 2D projection images are acquired from different angles along a limited arc. The imaged breast volume is reconstructed from the projection images, providing 3D information. The purpose of the study was to investigate and optimize different reconstruction methods for BT in terms of image quality using human observers viewing clinical cases. Sixty-six cases with suspected masses and calcifications were collected from 55 patients. Four different reconstructions of each image set were evaluated by four observers (two experienced radiologists, two experienced medical physicists): filtered back projection (FBP), iterative adapted FBP (iFBP) and two ML-convex iterative algorithm (MLCI) reconstructions (8 and 10 iterations) that differed in noise level and contrast of clinical details. Representation of masses and microcalcifications was evaluated. The structures were rated according to the overall appearance in a rank-order study. The differently reconstructed images of the same structure were displayed side by side in random order. The observers were forced to rank the order of the different reconstructed images and their proportions at each rank were scored. The results suggest that even though the FBP contains most noise its reconstructions are considered best overall, followed by iFBP, which contains least noise. In both FBP and iFBP methods the sharp borders and mass speculations were better represented than in iterative reconstructions while out-of-plane artifacts were better suppressed in the latter. However, in clinical practice the differences between the reconstructions may be considered negligible.
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| 3. |
- Förnvik, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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Pressure distribution in mammography: compression of breasts with malignant tumor masses
- 2013
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In: Medical Imaging 2013: Physics of Medical Imaging. - : SPIE. - 1996-756X .- 0277-786X. ; 8668, s. 86684-86684
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The pressure distribution over a compressed breast is in general heterogeneous. In this study we investigated the pressure distribution over compressed breasts with tumor masses. Twenty-two women either recalled for work-up of findings suspicious for breast cancer in the screening program or with clinically suspected findings were included in the study. Twenty-one lesions turned out to be malignant and one benign. The distribution of compression pressure was measured using thin FSR (Force Sensing Resistor) pressure sensors attached to the compression plate. The pressure over the breast was ascertained by acquiring an x-ray image of the compressed breast with the pressure sensors present. The pressure data and the mammogram were used to create a composite image with pressure data displayed as a color overlay. The malignant tumor area generally matched an elevated pressure area and this pressure was generally higher than the pressure over surrounding parenchyma. In 11 out of 22 (50%) subjects the maximum pressure over the breast was located over the tumor. Only 4 out of 22 (18%) masses had a lower tumor mean pressure compared to the mean pressure over the breast (including one small < 10 mm tumor and one benign structure). The results suggest that tumors are stiffer, thus, absorbing more pressure compared to the surrounding parenchyma and that this property can be quantified. Refined pressure techniques could possibly be used to demonstrate the relative elasticity distribution in breast tissue, which might provide valuable differential diagnostic information.
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| 4. |
- Timberg, Pontus, et al.
(author)
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Impact of dose on observer performance in breast tomosynthesis using breast specimens
- 2008
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In: Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. - 1605-7422. ; 6913, s. 9134-9134
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dose on lesion detection† and characterization in breast tomosynthesis (BT), using human breast specimens. Images of 27 lesions in breast specimens were acquired on a BT prototype‡ based on a Mammomat Novation (Siemens) full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system. Two detector modes - binned (2×1 in the scan direction) and full resolution - and four BT exposure levels - approximately 2×, 1.5×, 1×, and 0.5× the total mAs at the same beam quality as used in a single FFDM view with a Mammomat Novation unit under automatic exposure control (AEC) conditions - were examined. The exposure for all BT scans was equally divided among 25 projections. An enhanced filtered back projection reconstruction method was applied with a constant filter setting. A human observer performance study was conducted in which the observers were forced to select the minimum (threshold) exposure level at which each lesion could be both detected and characterized for assessment of recall or not in a screening situation. The median threshold exposure level for all observers and all lesions corresponded to approximately 1×, which is half the exposure of what we currently use for BT. A substantial variation in exposure thresholds was noticed for different lesion types. For low contrast lesions with diffuse borders, an exposure threshold of approximately 2× was required, whereas for spiculated high contrast lesions and lesions with well defined borders, the exposure threshold was lower than 0.5×. The use of binned mode had no statistically significant impact on observer performance compared to full resolution mode. There was no substantial difference between the modes for the detection and characterization of the lesion types.
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| 5. |
- Timberg, Pontus, et al.
(author)
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Potential for lower absorbed dose in digital mammography: A JAFROC experiment using clinical hybrid images with simulated dose reduction
- 2006
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In: Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE. - : SPIE. - 1605-7422. ; 6146, s. 14614-14614
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- To determine how image quality linked to tumor detection is affected by reducing the absorbed dose to 50% and 30% of the clinical levels represented by an average glandular dose (AGO) level of 1.3 mGy for a standard breast according to European guidelines. Materials and methods: 90 normal, unprocessed images were acquired from the screening department using a full-field digital mammography (FFDM) unit Mammomat Novation (Siemens). Into 40 of these, one to three simulated tumors were inserted per image at various positions. These tumors represented irregular-shaped malignant masses. Dose reduction was simulated in all 90 images by adding simulated quantum noise to represent images acquired at 50% and 30% of the original dose, resulting in 270 images, which were subsequently processed for final display. Four radiologists participated in a free-response receiver operating characteristics (FROG) study in which they searched for and marked suspicious positions of the masses as well as rated their degree of suspicion of occurrence on a one to four scale. Using the jackknife FROG (JAFROC) method, a score between 0 and 1 (where 1 represents best performance), referred to as a figure-of-merit (FOM), was calculated for each dose level. Results: The FOM was 0.73, 0.70, and 0.68 for the 100%, 50% and 30% dose levels, respectively. Using Analysis of the Variance (ANOVA) to test for statistically significant differences between any two of the three FOMs revealed that they were not statistically distinguishable (p-value of 0.26). Conclusion: For the masses used in this experiment, there was no significant change in detection by increasing quantum noise, thus indicating a potential for dose reduction.
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