Monte Carlo simulation of x-ray scattering for quantitative characterization of breast cancer

Abstract

In the last decade there has been growing interest in the possibility of characterizing breast cancer using differences in the coherent x-ray-scattering profiles of normal and malignant tissues. To a great extent, characterization has depended on the differences in the peak positions of both tissues in addition to the overall profile which exhibits a distinctive sharp adipose peak in the case of a normal breast. In many excised tissue samples, breast cancer samples may be mixed with a variable percentage of other tissues which affect the shape of the x-ray-scattering profile and consequently the ability to characterize the tissue. Moreover, fibroglandular tissue produces a scattering profile showing an extent of similarity to breast cancer. The present study introduces a Monte Carlo simulation code capable of tracing photon transport inside a mixed two-component sample. The code is utilized to simulate and best fit x-ray-scattering profiles of the measured samples. This provides reliable breast tissue characterization in addition to a quantitative estimate of the percentage of each component in a given sample. It is expected that the present simulation would potentially enhance the characterization of breast cancer using the x-ray-scattering technique.

Coherent scatter imaging Monte Carlo simulation

“…Kapadia et al 9 used a coded-aperture x-ray scatter imaging system and a GEANT4 simulation to study coherent scatter diffraction patterns. Similar results were found by Elshemey et al 10 Lakshmanan et al 11,12 described a tumor margin evaluation method based on x-ray coherent scatter computed tomography imaging using a Monte Carlo Geant4 code. The resulting images distinguish cancerous tumors embedded in complex distributions of adipose and fibroglandular tissue.…”

“…The uncertainty was assumed to be Poisson noise calculated as the square root of the number of detected photons as in Eq. (10). The signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) was taken as E Q -T A R G E T ; t e m p : i n t r a l i n k -; e 0 2 7 ; 6 3 ; 3 4 4 SNR ¼…”

An X-ray scatter system for material identification in cluttered objects: A Monte Carlo simulation study

“…A number of simulation studies have focused on quantifying the effects of coherent scatter diffraction signals as noise in X-ray radiography measurements [15][16][17][18] and for using coherent scatter in diagnosing breast cancer [19][20][21]. However, as a result of the limited resources for the simulation of coherent scatter diffraction, no studies prior to ours have simulated an X-ray scatter imaging system for the detection of an array of targets typically found in suitcases while also taking into account the diffraction signal from background materials.…”

Enhanced frequency analysis on a vibrated tumor with a compression cylinder

“…Screening technologies have been developed in a variety of methods. Tumor detection usually involves imaging diagnosis methods such as scatter X-ray imaging [8], mammography [9], ultrasound [10], and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [11]. In an experimental approach, acoustic signals have also been used to localize the position of tumors [12].…”