A comparison of the performance of modern screen-film and digital mammography systems

Abstract

This work compares the detector performance and image quality of the new Kodak Min-R EV mammography screen-film system with the Fuji CR Profect detector and with other current mammography screen-film systems from Agfa, Fuji and Kodak. Basic image quality parameters (MTF, NPS, NEQ and DQE) were evaluated for a 28 kV Mo/Mo (HVL = 0.646 mm Al) beam using different mAs exposure settings. Compared with other screen-film systems, the new Kodak Min-R EV detector has the highest contrast and a low intrinsic noise level, giving better NEQ and DQE results, especially at high optical density. Thus, the properties of the new mammography film approach those of a fine mammography detector, especially at low frequency range. Screen-film systems provide the best resolution. The presampling MTF of the digital detector has a value of 15% at the Nyquist frequency and, due to the spread size of the laser beam, the use of a smaller pixel size would not permit a significant improvement of the detector resolution. The dual collection reading technology increases significantly the low frequency DQE of the Fuji CR system that can at present compete with the most efficient mammography screen-film systems.

Physical evaluation of a needle photostimulable phosphor based CR mammography system

“…Some quantitative detector measurements [modulation transfer function (MTF), normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE)] are available in the published literature for powder CR mammography systems. [11][12][13][14] Regarding needlelike CR detectors, Bosmans et al 16 give some contrast-detail and mean glandular dose (MGD) results for the Konica Minolta CP1M200 needle phosphor, while some results are available in a technical report for the Agfa HM5.0. 16 In a recent study, 14 we gave some quantitative detector measurements for powder mammography CR detectors (the Agfa MM3.0R and Fuji Profect CS) along with data for the Agfa HM5.0 needle mammography detector.…”

Techniques to improve the accuracy of noise power spectrum measurements in digital x‐ray imaging based on background trends removal

“…The NPS measurement for digital x-ray imaging systems has been studied extensively. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The goal of the NPS measurement is to use the limited amount of image data acquired to get a smooth and accurate NPS estimation with the finest frequency resolution. 8,9 The measurement and interpretation of the noise power spectrum with digital systems pose particular complications due to two principal difficulties.…”

Dependence of the electrical properties of stabilized a-Se on the preparation conditions and the development of a double layer X-ray detector structure

“…f 0.5 ) for SELMA and SALLY a-Se and various commercially available mammographic image detectors Data were extracted from[14][15][16].…”