Can electronic zoom replace magnification in mammography? A comparative Monte Carlo study

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Magnification, which is considered to be a relatively high "dose cost" mammographic technique, is a complementary examination performed on women exhibiting breast complaints or abnormalities. Particular attention is given to the imaging procedure as the primary aim is to confirm the existence of suspected abnormalities, despite the additional dose. The introduction of post-processing capabilities and the widespread use of digital mammography promoted some controversy in the last decades on whether electronic zoom performed on the derived initial screening mammogram can effectively replace this technique. This study used Monte Carlo simulation methods to derive simulated screening mammograms produced under several exposure conditions, aiming to electronically magnify and compare them to the corresponding magnification mammograms. Comparison was based on quantitative measurements of image quality, namely contrast to noise ratio (CNR) and spatial resolution. Results demonstrated that CNR was higher for geometric magnification compared to the case of electronic zooming. The percentage difference was higher for lesions of smaller radius and achieved 29% for 0.10 mm details. Although spatial resolution is maintained high in the zoomed images, when investigating microcalcifications of 0.05 mm radius or less, only with geometric magnification can they be visualised.

Full Field Digital Mammography (FFDM) versus CMOS Technology, Specimen Radiography System (SRS) and Tomosynthesis (DBT) - Which System Can Optimise Surgical Therapy?

“…Our results thus correspond to, or exceed, those obtained using digital specimen radiography, even with the use of zooming [23,[33][34][35][36][37]. In conclusion, it should be noted that digital specimen radiography using a magnification of 1.0 : 2.0 and no zooming should be primarily done using systems developed exclusively for specimen radiography or tomosynthesis should be done [37].…”

Full Field Digital Mammography (FFDM) versus CMOS Technology versus Tomosynthesis (DBT) - Which System Increases the Quality of Intraoperative Imaging?

“…In future, to further reduce the re-excision rate, not simply in order to comply with the European Guidelines or S3 Guidelines but to spare patients from having to undergo a second operative intervention with all the side effects this entails, a volumetric assessment based on Tomosynthesis could offer an important contribution to mammography [31]. However, it should be noted that our Tomosynthesis results corresponded to or even exceeded those provided by digital specimen radiograms, even with the use of zooming [23,[33][34][35][36]. To potentially improve results and thus the quality of specimen radiograms even more and to further reduce the rate of re-excisions, comparative studies of Tomosynthesis and specimen radiograms in real magnification (e.g.…”

Optimization of Codman® Hakim® adjustable valve radiography

“…The decreasing image quality effect by geometric zoom was already known in 1996 25 and a short object-detector-distance was recommended to avoid this. 26,27 Three different mammographic articles state that electric magnification can be used for an existing condition (screening) because of its sufficient image quality, [28][29][30] while geometric zoom produces better quality to see overall structures, and are by that more accurate in diagnostics. One can speculate on if the features are of importance; the focus of mammography is tiny spots and the focus of shunt radiography is moreover lines; according to Vyborny 12 these are two out of three different features (spot/ line/ area), that also might favor different types of image processing.…”