Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography with a photon-counting detector

• Purpose: Spectral imaging is a method in medical x-ray imaging to extract information about the object constituents by the material-specific energy dependence of x-ray attenuation. In particular, the detectability of a contrast agent can be improved over a lumpy background. We have investigated a photon-counting spectral imaging system with two energy bins for contrast-enhanced mammography. System optimization and the potential benefit compared to conventional non-energy-resolved imaging was studied.Methods: A framework for system characterization was set up that included quantum and anatomical noise, and a theoretical model of the system was benchmarked to phantom measurements.Results: It was found that optimal combination of the energy-resolved images corresponded approximately to minimization of the anatomical noise, and an ideal-observer detectability index could be improved more than a factor of two compared to absorption imaging in the phantom study. In the clinical case, an improvement close to 80% was predicted for an average glandularity breast, and a factor of eight for dense breast tissue. Another 70% was found to be within reach for an optimized system.Conclusions: Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography is feasible and beneficial with the current system, and there is room for additional improvements.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Annan teknik -- Övrig annan teknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Other Engineering and Technologies -- Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Datorseende och robotik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Computer Vision and Robotics (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Radiologi och bildbehandling (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Medicinteknik -- Medicinsk laboratorie- och mätteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Medical Engineering -- Medical Laboratory and Measurements Technologies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

spectral imaging

mammography

contrast agent

photon counting

dual-energy subtraction

energy weighting

anatomical noise

Other engineering physics

Övrig teknisk fysik

Image analysis

Bildanalys

Radiological research

Radiologisk forskning

Medical engineering

Medicinsk teknik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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