TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of x-ray energy on the radiological image quality in propagation-based phase-contrast computed tomography of the breast
AU - Wan, Sarina
AU - Arhatari, Benedicta D.
AU - Nesterets, Yakov I.
AU - Mayo, Sheridan C.
AU - Thompson, Darren
AU - Fox, Jane
AU - Kumar, Beena
AU - Prodanovic, Zdenka
AU - Hausermann, Daniel
AU - Maksimenko, Anton
AU - Hall, Christopher
AU - Dimmock, Matthew
AU - Pavlov, Konstantin M.
AU - Lockie, Darren
AU - Rickard, Mary
AU - Gadomkar, Ziba
AU - Aminzadeh, Alaleh
AU - Vafa, Elham
AU - Peele, Andrew
AU - Quiney, Harry M.
AU - Lewis, Sarah
AU - Gureyev, Timur E.
AU - Brennan, Patrick C.
AU - Taba, Seyedamir Tavakoli
N1 - Funding Information:
The images used in this study were obtained at the Imaging and Medical beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO. We give a special thanks to the individuals who consented to having their mastectomies used for research purposes in this study. This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia (Grant No. APP1138283).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Purpose: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in developing and developed countries and is responsible for 15% of women's cancer deaths worldwide. Conventional absorption-based breast imaging techniques lack sufficient contrast for comprehensive diagnosis. Propagation-based phase-contrast computed tomography (PB-CT) is a developing technique that exploits a more contrast-sensitive property of x-rays: x-ray refraction. X-ray absorption, refraction, and contrast-to-noise in the corresponding images depend on the x-ray energy used, for the same/fixed radiation dose. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between x-ray energy and radiological image quality in PB-CT imaging. Approach: Thirty-nine mastectomy samples were scanned at the imaging and medical beamline at the Australian Synchrotron. Samples were scanned at various x-ray energies of 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, and 60 keV using a Hamamatsu Flat Panel detector at the same object-to-detector distance of 6 m and mean glandular dose of 4 mGy. A total of 132 image sets were produced for analysis. Seven observers rated PB-CT images against absorption-based CT (AB-CT) images of the same samples on a five-point scale. A visual grading characteristics (VGC) study was used to determine the difference in image quality. Results: PB-CT images produced at 28, 30, 32, and 34 keV x-ray energies demonstrated statistically significant higher image quality than reference AB-CT images. The optimum x-ray energy, 30 keV, displayed the largest area under the curve (AUCVGC) of 0.754 (p = 0.009). This was followed by 32 keV (AUCVGC = 0.731, p ≤ 0.001), 34 keV (AUCVGC = 0.723, p ≤ 0.001), and 28 keV (AUCVGC = 0.654, p = 0.015). Conclusions: An optimum energy range (around 30 keV) in the PB-CT technique allows for higher image quality at a dose comparable to conventional mammographic techniques. This results in improved radiological image quality compared with conventional techniques, which may ultimately lead to higher diagnostic efficacy and a reduction in breast cancer mortalities.
AB - Purpose: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in developing and developed countries and is responsible for 15% of women's cancer deaths worldwide. Conventional absorption-based breast imaging techniques lack sufficient contrast for comprehensive diagnosis. Propagation-based phase-contrast computed tomography (PB-CT) is a developing technique that exploits a more contrast-sensitive property of x-rays: x-ray refraction. X-ray absorption, refraction, and contrast-to-noise in the corresponding images depend on the x-ray energy used, for the same/fixed radiation dose. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between x-ray energy and radiological image quality in PB-CT imaging. Approach: Thirty-nine mastectomy samples were scanned at the imaging and medical beamline at the Australian Synchrotron. Samples were scanned at various x-ray energies of 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, and 60 keV using a Hamamatsu Flat Panel detector at the same object-to-detector distance of 6 m and mean glandular dose of 4 mGy. A total of 132 image sets were produced for analysis. Seven observers rated PB-CT images against absorption-based CT (AB-CT) images of the same samples on a five-point scale. A visual grading characteristics (VGC) study was used to determine the difference in image quality. Results: PB-CT images produced at 28, 30, 32, and 34 keV x-ray energies demonstrated statistically significant higher image quality than reference AB-CT images. The optimum x-ray energy, 30 keV, displayed the largest area under the curve (AUCVGC) of 0.754 (p = 0.009). This was followed by 32 keV (AUCVGC = 0.731, p ≤ 0.001), 34 keV (AUCVGC = 0.723, p ≤ 0.001), and 28 keV (AUCVGC = 0.654, p = 0.015). Conclusions: An optimum energy range (around 30 keV) in the PB-CT technique allows for higher image quality at a dose comparable to conventional mammographic techniques. This results in improved radiological image quality compared with conventional techniques, which may ultimately lead to higher diagnostic efficacy and a reduction in breast cancer mortalities.
KW - breast cancer
KW - breast cancer diagnosis
KW - phase-contrast CT
KW - propagation-based phase-contrast imaging
KW - x-ray energies
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85118700216
U2 - 10.1117/1.JMI.8.5.052108
DO - 10.1117/1.JMI.8.5.052108
M3 - Article
C2 - 34268442
AN - SCOPUS:85118700216
SN - 2329-4302
VL - 8
JO - Journal of Medical Imaging
JF - Journal of Medical Imaging
IS - 5
M1 - 052108
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being