Breast tomosynthesis with monochromatic beams: a feasibility study using Monte Carlo simulations

Malliori, A.; Bliznakova, Kristina; Sechopoulos, Ioannis; Kamarianakis, Zacharias; Fei, Baowei; Pallikarakis, N.

doi:10.1088/0031-9155/59/16/4681

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Besides, the paraffin is handled more easily compared to other materials like the epoxy resin with fewer defects that may be introduced during their manufacturing. Paraffin wax has an elemental composition of 15%H and 85%C, while the density is 0.93 g/cm 3 . It can be used successfully to mimic the adipose in a physical phantom dedicated for phase contrast effects in future studies.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evaluation of the corresponding profiles that were taken across the middle sphere, however, shows signal enhancement at the edges of these spheres in the case of the synchrotron beam (SR) beam (fig 2b) compared to the conventional radiographic image (fig 2a). This is expected, since the use of SR beams results in sharper edges of the features on the images [3] mainly due to the slit geometry that results in scatter rejection as well as elimination of the soft x-rays that are present in the polychromatic spectrum of the conventional mammography unit. The image acquired in a PhC mode (fig 2c) shows much more details which were not visible in images acquired in absorption mode.…”

Section: X-ray Imaging Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrast Detail Phantoms for X-ray Phase-Contrast Mammography and Tomography

Bliznakova¹,

Mettivier²,

Russo³

et al. 2016

Breast Imaging

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Primary goal of this study is to investigate the visibility of lowcontrast details of different size on images obtained at conventional mammography unit, and at a monochromatic synchrotron radiation source, in absorption based and phase contrast imaging setups. For this purpose, three physical phantoms made of paraffin as a bulk material were used. They embedded various low contrast features. Single projection images were acquired with the GE Senographe mammography unit and at the beamline ID17, ESRF, Grenoble. Comparison of images showed that images obtained in a phase contrast mode have more visible details than the images acquired either in absorption mode at the synchrotron or at the conventional x-ray mammography unit. Analysis for δ and μ suggests that paraffin may be a suitable material for the manufacturing of tissue-mimicking phantoms dedicated to phase contrast applications. Results will be exploited in the development of a dedicated phantom for phase contrast imaging.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: X-ray Imaging Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrast Detail Phantoms for X-ray Phase-Contrast Mammography and Tomography

Bliznakova¹,

Mettivier²,

Russo³

et al. 2016

Breast Imaging

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“…Anthropomorphic phantoms are both computational and physical models of the human body, organs, tissues or part of it, and they are considered an excellent tool for comparison, characterization and optimization of existing diagnostic modalities. In the field of breast imaging, anthropomorphic breast models are used for an assessment of the diagnostic task performance of breast imaging systems without conducting long and high cost clinical trials (Ikejimba et al 2018), optimizing clinical protocols, image processing and reconstruction algorithms (Bliznakova et al 2010, Malliori et al 2012, Malliori et al 2014, as well as for research on new breast imaging systems and their technical optimization (Mettivier et al 2017, Bliznakova, 2020.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoplastic 3D printing technology using a single filament for producing realistic patient-derived breast models

Dukov

Bliznakova

Okkalidis³

et al. 2022

Phys. Med. Biol.

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Objective. This work describes an approach for producing physical anthropomorphic breast phantoms from clinical patient data using three-dimensional (3D) fused-deposition modelling (FDM) printing. Approach. The source of the anthropomorphic model was a clinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) patient image set, which was segmented slice by slice into adipose and glandular tissues, skin and tumour formations; thus obtaining a four component computational breast model. The segmented tissues were mapped to specific Hounsfield Units (HU) values, which were derived from clinical breast Computed Tomography (CT) data. The obtained computational model was used as a template for producing a physical anthropomorphic breast phantom using 3D printing. FDM technology with only one polylactic acid filament was used. The physical breast phantom was scanned at Siemens SOMATOM Definition CT. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation were carried out to assess the clinical realism of CT slices of the physical breast phantom. Main results. The comparison between selected slices from the computational breast phantom and CT slices of the physical breast phantom shows similar visual x-ray appearance of the four breast tissue structures: adipose, glandular, tumour and skin. The results from the task-based evaluation, which involved three radiologists, showed a high degree of realistic clinical radiological appearance of the modelled breast components. Measured HU values of the printed structures are within the range of HU values used in the computational phantom. Moreover, measured physical parameters of the breast phantom, such as weight and linear dimensions, agree very well with the corresponding ones of the computational breast models. Significance. The presented approach, based on a single FDM material, was found suitable for manufacturing of a physical breast phantom, which mimics well the 3D spatial distribution of the different breast tissues and their x-ray absorption properties. As such, it could be successfully exploited in advanced x-ray breast imaging research applications.

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“…Thorough studies leading to a specialized physical phantom would enable optimization of this new imaging modality and evaluation of its potential advantages. Our group at the University of Patras has developed software tools and algorithms [11, 55 -60] facilitating advanced X-ray breast imaging studies, including tomosynthesis and PhC and has performed simulations [18,61,62] and evaluation studies using a Synchrotron facility [29, 63 -66]. In the current work, we present physical breast phantoms that can be used for further development and evaluation of such X-ray imaging modalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Physical Breast Phantoms for X-ray Imaging Employing 3D Printing Techniques

Malliori¹,

Daskalaki²,

Dermitzakis³

et al. 2020

TOMIJ

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Objective: This study aims to investigate the use of 3D printing techniques for the fabrication of physical breast phantoms, suitable for conventional and phase contrast breast imaging. Such phantoms could provide essential information for the design, development and optimization of emerging X-ray imaging modalities. Materials and Methods: Physical phantoms were constructed using two 3D printing techniques: Fused Deposition Modeling and Stereolithography. Eight materials suitable for 3D printing, including thermoplastic filaments and photopolymer resins, were investigated for the optimal representation of breast tissues, based on their attenuation and refractive characteristics. The phantoms consisted of a 3D-printed mold, which was then manually filled with paraffin wax. Additionally, a 3D complex-patterned layer and details representing abnormalities were embedded in different depths. Images of the phantoms were obtained in attenuation and phase contrast mode. Experiments were conducted using an X-ray microfocus tube with Tungsten anode set to 55kVp, combined with a photon-counting detector. The distance between source and detector was 56.5cm. The images were acquired at different object-to-detector distances starting from 5cm up to 40cm in a free space propagation set-up. Results and Conclusion: Results show that among all combinations with paraffin used as an adipose substitute, phantoms created with the Stereolithography technique and resins (especially Flex) as glandular equivalent, were found to be more appropriate for both attenuation and phase contrast imaging. The edge enhancement effect was well observed in the experimental images acquired at 35cm object-to-detector distance, indicating the potential for improved feature visualization using this set-up in phase contrast compared to attenuation mode.

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Breast tomosynthesis with monochromatic beams: a feasibility study using Monte Carlo simulations

Cited by 8 publications

References 32 publications

Contrast Detail Phantoms for X-ray Phase-Contrast Mammography and Tomography

Contrast Detail Phantoms for X-ray Phase-Contrast Mammography and Tomography

Thermoplastic 3D printing technology using a single filament for producing realistic patient-derived breast models

Development of Physical Breast Phantoms for X-ray Imaging Employing 3D Printing Techniques

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