A novel approach to background subtraction in contrast‐enhanced dual‐energy digital mammography with commercially available mammography devices: Polychromaticity correction. Issue 11 (23rd October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Contillo, Adriano; Di Domenico, Giovanni; Cardarelli, Paolo; Gambaccini, Mauro; Taibi, Angelo
• Is Part Of: Medical physics. Volume 42:Issue 11(2015)
• Page Start: 6641
• Page End: 6650
• Publication Date: 2015-10-23
• Subjects: convergence of numerical methods -- diagnostic radiography -- image denoising -- iterative methods -- mammography -- medical image processing -- phantoms; Digital mammography -- Digital radiography -- Mammography -- Interpolation; curve fitting; Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers -- Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific applications -- Image data processing or generation, in general -- Image enhancement or restoration, e.g. from bit‐mapped to bit‐mapped creating a similar image; digital mammography -- contrast medium -- dual‐energy -- breast phantom -- beam hardening correction; Medical X‐ray imaging -- Photons -- Vacuum tubes -- X‐ray spectra -- Medical image contrast -- Cancer -- Iteration theory -- Digital mammography; Medical physics -- Periodicals; Medical physics; Geneeskunde; Natuurkunde; Toepassingen; Biophysics; Periodicals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 610.153
• DOI: 10.1118/1.4933199
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-2405

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: Contrast‐enhanced digital mammography is an image subtraction technique that is able to improve the detectability of lesions in dense breasts. One of the main sources of error, when the technique is performed by means of commercial mammography devices, is represented by the intrinsic polychromaticity of the x‐ray beams. The aim of the work is to propose an iterative procedure, which only assumes the knowledge of a small set of universal quantities, to take into account the polychromaticity and correct the subtraction results accordingly. Methods: In order to verify the procedure, it has been applied to an analytical simulation of a target containing a contrast medium and to actual radiographs of a breast phantom containing cavities filled with a solution of the same medium. Results: The reconstructed densities of contrast medium were compared, showing very good agreement between the theoretical predictions and the experimental results already after the first iteration. Furthermore, the convergence of the iterative procedure was studied, showing that only a small number of iterations is necessary to reach limiting values. Conclusions: The proposed procedure represents an efficient solution to the polychromaticity issue, qualifying therefore as a viable alternative to inverse‐map functions.