Quantification of breast density with dual energy mammography: An experimental feasibility study

Journal Article · Mon Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Medical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.3284975· OSTI ID:22096633

Ducote, Justin L.; Molloi, Sabee ^[1]

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1. Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, California 92697 (United States)

Purpose: Breast density, the percentage of glandular breast tissue, has been shown to be a strong indicator of breast cancer risk. A quantitative method to measure breast density with dual energy mammography was investigated using physical phantoms. Methods: The dual energy mammography system used a tungsten anode x-ray tube with a 50 {mu}m rhodium beam filter for low energy images and a 300 {mu}m copper beam filter for high energy images. Glandular and adipose equivalent phantoms of uniform thickness were used to calibrate a dual energy basis decomposition algorithm. Four different phantom studies were used to evaluate the technique. The first study consisted of phantoms with thicknesses of 2.5-8.5 cm in 0.5 cm steps with variable densities centered at a mean of 28%. The second study consisted of phantoms at a fixed thickness of 4.0 cm, which ranged in densities from 0% to 100% in increments of 12.5%. The third study consisted of 4.0 cm thick phantoms at densities of 25%, 50% and 75% each imaged at three areal sizes, approximately 62.5, 125, and 250 cm{sup 2}, in order to assess the effect of breast size on density measurement. The fourth study consisted of step phantoms designed to more closely mimic the shape of a female breast with maximal thicknesses from 3.0 to 7.0 cm at a fixed density of 50%. All images were corrected for x-ray scatter. Results: The RMS errors in breast density measurements were 0.44% for the variable thickness phantoms, 0.64% for the variable density phantoms, 2.87% for the phantoms of different areal sizes, and 4.63% for step phantoms designed to closely resemble the shape of a breast. Conclusions: The results of the phantom studies indicate that dual energy mammography can be used to measure breast density with an RMS error of approximately 5%.

• OSTI ID: 22096633
• Journal Information: Medical Physics, Journal Name: Medical Physics Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 37; ISSN 0094-2405; ISSN MPHYA6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ALGORITHMS
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
COPPER
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
HEALTH HAZARDS
IMAGES
MAMMARY GLANDS
NEOPLASMS
PHANTOMS
RHODIUM
TUNGSTEN
X RADIATION
X-RAY TUBES