| 1. |
- Berggren, Karl, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
-
Characterization of photon-counting multislit breast tomosynthesis
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Medical Physics. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2473-4209 .- 0094-2405.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: It has been shown that breast tomosynthesis may improve sensitivity and specificity compared to two-dimensional mammography, resulting in increased detection-rate of cancers or lowered call-back rates. The purpose of this study is to characterize a spectral photon-counting multislit breast tomosynthesis system that is able to do single-scan spectral imaging with multiple collimated x-ray beams. The system differs in many aspects compared to conventional tomosynthesis using energyintegrating flat-panel detectors. Methods: The investigated system was a prototype consisting of a dual-threshold photon-counting detector with 21 collimated line detectors scanning across the compressed breast. A review of the system is done in terms of detector, acquisition geometry, and reconstruction methods. Three reconstruction methods were used, simple back-projection, filtered back-projection and an iterative algebraic reconstruction technique. The image quality was evaluated by measuring the modulation transfer-function (MTF), normalized noise-power spectrum, detective quantum-efficiency (DQE), and artifact spread-function (ASF) on reconstructed spectral tomosynthesis images for a total-energy bin (defined by a low-energy threshold calibrated to remove electronic noise) and for a high-energy bin (with a threshold calibrated to split the spectrum in roughly equal parts). Acquisition was performed using a 29 kVp W/Al x-ray spectrum at a 0.24 mGy exposure. Results: The difference in MTF between the two energy bins was negligible, that is, there was no energy dependence on resolution. The MTF dropped to 50% at 1.5 lp/mm to 2.3 lp/mm in the scan direction and 2.4 lp/mm to 3.3 lp/mm in the slit direction, depending on the reconstruction method. The full width at half maximum of the ASF was found to range from 13.8 mm to 18.0 mm for the different reconstruction methods. The zero-frequency DQE of the system was found to be 0.72. The fraction of counts in the high-energy bin was measured to be 59% of the total detected spectrum. Scantimes ranged from 4 s to 16.5 s depending on voltage and current settings. Conclusions: The characterized system generates spectral tomosynthesis images with a dual-energy photon-counting detector. Measurements show a high DQE, enabling high image quality at a low dose, which is beneficial for low-dose applications such as screening. The single-scan spectral images open up for applications such as quantitative material decomposition and contrast-enhanced tomosynthesis.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Berggren, Karl, et al.
(författare)
-
Technical Note: Comparison of first‐ and second‐generation photon‐counting slit‐scanning tomosynthesis systems
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0094-2405. ; 45:2, s. 635-638
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is an emerging tool for breast-cancer screening and diagnostics. The purpose of this study is to present a second-generation photon-counting slitscanning DBT system and compare it to the first-generation system in terms of geometry and image quality. The study presents the first image-quality measurements on the second-generation system. Method: The geometry of the new system is based on a combined rotational and linear motion, in contrast to a purely rotational scan motion in the first generation. In addition, the calibration routines have been updated. Image quality was measured in the center of the image field in terms of in-slice modulation transfer function (MTF), artifact spread function (ASF), and in-slice detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Images were acquired using a W/Al 29 kVp spectrum at 13 mAs with 2 mm Al additional filtration and reconstructed using simple back-projection. Result: The in-slice 50% MTF was improved in the chest-mammilla direction, going from 3.2 to 3.5 lp/mm, and the zero-frequency DQE increased from 0.71 to 0.77. The MTF and ASF were otherwise found to be on par for the two systems. The new system has reduced in-slice variation of the tomographic angle. Conclusions: The new geometry is less curved, which reduces in-slice tomographic-angle variation, and increases the maximum compression height, making the system accessible for a larger population. The improvements in MTF and DQE were attributed to the updated calibration procedures. We conclude that the second-generation system maintains the key features of the photon-counting system while maintaining or improving image quality and improving the maximum compression height.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Åslund, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
AEC for scanning digital mammography based on variation of scan velocity
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 32:11, s. 3367-3374
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A theoretical evaluation of nonuniform x-ray field distributions in mammography was conducted. An automatic exposure control (AEC) is proposed for a scanning full field digital mammography system. It uses information from the leading part of the detector to vary the scan velocity dynamically, thus creating a nonuniform x-ray field in the scan direction. Nonuniform radiation fields were also created by numerically optimizing the scan velocity profile to each breast's transmission distribution, with constraints on velocity and acceleration. The goal of the proposed AEC is to produce constant pixel signal-to-noise ratio throughout the image. The target pixel SNR for each image could be set based on the breast thickness, breast composition, and the beam quality as to achieve the same contrast-to-noise ratio between images for structures of interest. The results are quantified in terms of reduction in entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) and scan time relative to a uniform x-ray field. The theoretical evaluation was performed on a set of 266 mammograms. The performance of the different methods to create nonuniform fields decreased with increased detector width, from 18% to 11% in terms of ESAK reduction and from 30% to 25% in terms of scan time reduction for the proposed AEC and detector widths from 10 to 60 mm. Some correlation was found between compressed breast thickness and the projected breast area onto the image field. This translated into an increase of the ESAK and decrease of the scan time reduction with breast thickness. Ideally a nonuniform field in two dimensions could reduce the entrance dose by 39% on average, whereas a field nonuniform in only the scanning dimension ideally yields a 20% reduction. A benefit with the proposed AEC is that the risk of underexposing the densest region of the breast can be virtually eliminated.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Åslund, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
Physical characterization of a scanning photon counting digital mammography system based on Si-strip detectors
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 34:6, s. 1918-1925
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The physical performance of a scanning multislit full field digital mammography system was determined using basic image quality parameters. The system employs a direct detection detector comprised of linear silicon strip sensors in an edge-on geometry connected to photon counting electronics. The pixel size is 50 mu m and the field of view 24 x 26 cm(2). The performance was quantified using the presampled modulation transfer function, the normalized noise power spectrum and the detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Compared to conventional DQE methods, the scanning geometry with its intrinsic scatter rejection poses additional requirements on the measurement setup, which are investigated in this work. The DQE of the photon counting system was found to be independent of the dose level to the detector in the 7.6-206 mu Gy range. The peak DQE was 72% and 73% in the scan and slit direction, respectively, measured with a 28 kV W-0.5 mm Al anodefilter combination with an added 2 mm Al filtration.
|
|
| 8. |
- Åslund, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
Scatter rejection in multislit digital mammography
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Medical physics (Lancaster). - : Wiley. - 0094-2405. ; 33:4, s. 933-940
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The scatter to primary ratio (SPR) was measured on a scanning multislit full-field digital mammography system for different thickness of breast equivalent material and different tube voltages. Scatter within the detector was measured separately and was found to be the major source of scatter in the assembly. Measured total SPRs below 6% are reported for breast range 3-7 cm. The performance of the multislit assembly is compared to other imaging geometries with different scatter rejection schemes by using the scatter detective quantum efficiency.
|
|
