Breast Imaging

Abstract

Abstract. Breast cancer risk assessment is becoming increasingly important in clinical practice. It has been suggested that features that characterize mammographic texture are more predictive for breast cancer than breast density. Yet, strong correlation between both types of features is an issue in many studies. In this work we investigate a method to generate texture features and/or scores that are independent of breast density. The method is especially useful in settings where features are learned from the data itself. We evaluate our method on a case control set comprising 394 cancers, and 1182 healthy controls. We show that the learned density independent texture features are significantly associated with breast cancer risk. As such it may aid in exploring breast characteristics that are predictive of breast cancer irrespective of breast density. Furthermore it offers opportunities to enhance personalized breast cancer screening beyond breast density.

Comparison of contrast-enhanced digital mammography and contrast-enhanced digital breast tomosynthesis for lesion assessment

“…In future work, we plan to improve our reconstruction algorithms to further enhance the contrast of large lesions in CEDBT slices. 67 CEDBT provides coregistered contrast enhancement map with 3-D localization of lesions from LE DBT, which can help assess complexity of lesions and possibly provide more accurate guidance of biopsy. Compared with CEDM + DBT, CEDBT delivers less radiation dose while providing 3-D contrast enhancement information.…”

“…Using this analytical model, the signal intensities under various x-ray beam qualities for various breast attenuations were calculated. The weighting factor ω was calculated using the method developed by Lau et al 59,60 For an HE/LE x-ray spectral pair at a given breast density and thickness, the log signal intensity of HE x-rays was plotted against the log signal intensity of LE x-rays, as shown in Fig. 2(a).…”

“…26,27 Great effort has been devoted to the development and optimization of CEDBT. 10,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] The feasibility of CEDBT has also been demonstrated in a pilot clinical study using a photon-counting DBT system to allow spectral imaging in single shot with low dose. 37 It has been shown that DBT provides more accurate tumor margin assessment and size measurement than FFDM.…”

Are mammography image acquisition factors, compression pressure and paddle tilt, associated with breast cancer detection in screening?

“…It has also been suggested that reduced conspicuity may be the result of high compression pressure spreading tumour tissue and thereby diminishing the contrast required to identify the lesion. 27 An alternative explanation for possible reduced sensitivity at higher levels of compression pressure, was proposed by Hauge et al who found that the paddle moved for a significant period after the mammographer stopped increasing the compression force 28 and Ma et al also noted that the settling period was longer when higher compression force was used. 29 It is possible therefore, that at higher pressures, blurring can occur if the image is taken too soon after compression ceases i.e .…”

Phantom-based study exploring the effects of different scatter correction approaches on the reconstructed images generated by contrast-enhanced stationary digital breast tomosynthesis

“…TS involves imaging before and after the administration of contrast using a photon energy above the characteristic absorption (K-edge) for iodine, whereas DES compares images collected with photon energies above and below the K-edge. 23 Although this critical subtraction step during CE imaging has been studied for rotating-source DBT previously, this work is the first to incorporate scatter correction with a stationary system. 24,25 Tomosynthesis displays its findings as a stack of reconstructed image slices through which the reader scrolls to identify pathology and appreciate depth relationships.…”