Propagation-based phase-contrast imaging of the breast: image quality and the effect of x-ray energy and radiation dose
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Date
2023-10-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Abstract
Objectives:
Propagation-based phase-contrast computed tomography (PB-CT) is a new imaging technique that exploits refractive and absorption properties of X-rays to enhance soft tissue contrast and improve image quality. This study compares image quality of PB-CT and absorption-based CT (AB-CT) for breast imaging while exploring X-ray energy and radiation dose.
Methods:
Thirty-nine mastectomy samples were scanned at energy levels of 28-34keV using a flat panel detector at radiation dose levels of 4mGy and 2mGy. Image quality was assessed using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), spatial resolution (res) and visibility (vis). Statistical analysis was performed to compare PB-CT images against their corresponding AB-CT images scanned at 32keV and 4mGy.
Results:
The PB-CT images at 4mGy, across nearly all energy levels, demonstrated superior image quality than AB-CT images at the same dose. At some energy levels, the 2mGy PB-CT images also showed better image quality in terms of CNR/Res and vis compared to the 4mGy AB-CT images. At both investigated doses, SNR and SNR/res were found to have a statistically significant difference across all energy levels. The difference in vis was statistically significant at some energy levels.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrates superior image quality of PB-CT over AB-CT, with X-ray energy playing a crucial role in determining image quality parameters.
Advances in knowledge:
Our findings reveal that standard dose PB-CT outperforms standard dose AB-CT across all image quality metrics. Additionally, we demonstrate that low dose PB-CT can produce superior images compared to standard dose AB-CT in terms of CNR/Res and vis.
© The British Institute of Radiology This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted non-commercial reuse, provided the original author and source are credited.
Description
Keywords
Radiation doses, Images, Energy, Absorption, Organic matter, Energy levels, Mammary Glands, Positron computed tomography, Contrast Media
Citation
Gunaseelan, I., Amin Zadeh, A., Arhatari, B., Maksimenko, A., Hall, C., Hausermann, D., Kumar, B., Fox, J., Quiney, H., Lockie, D., Lewis, S., Brennan, P., Gureyev, T., & Tavakoli Taba, S. (2023). Propagation-based phase-contrast imaging of the breast: image quality and the effect of x-ray energy and radiation dose. British Journal of Radiology, 96(1150). doi:10.1259/bjr.20221189