Experimental investigation on the choice of the tungsten/rhodium anode/filter combination for an amorphous selenium-based digital mammography system

The signal difference-to-noise ratio (SDNR) between aluminium sheets and a homogeneous background was measured for various radiation qualities and breast thicknesses to determine the optimal radiation quality when using a Novation DR mammography system. Breast simulating phantoms, with a thickness f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European radiology 2007-09, Vol.17 (9), p.2368-2375
Main Authors: Toroi, Paula, Zanca, Federica, Young, Kenneth C, van Ongeval, Chantal, Marchal, Guy, Bosmans, Hilde
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum
Background noise
Breast
Filtration - instrumentation
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Mammography
Mammography - instrumentation
Metal sheets
Molybdenum
Novation
Phantoms, Imaging
Radiation
Radiation Dosage
Radiation measurement
Radiographic Image Enhancement - methods
Rhodium
Selenium
Thickness measurement
Tungsten
X ray tubes
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Summary:The signal difference-to-noise ratio (SDNR) between aluminium sheets and a homogeneous background was measured for various radiation qualities and breast thicknesses to determine the optimal radiation quality when using a Novation DR mammography system. Breast simulating phantoms, with a thickness from 2 cm to 7 cm, and aluminium sheet, with a thickness of 0.2 mm, were used. Three different combinations of anode/filter material and a wide range of tube voltages were employed for each phantom thickness. Each radiation quality was studied using three different dose levels. The tungsten (W) anode and rhodium (Rh) filter combination achieved the specified SDNR at the lowest mean glandular dose for all the phantom thicknesses and X-ray tube voltages. The difference between the doses for different anode/filter combinations increased with the phantom thickness. For a 5-cm phantom, with a peak tube voltage of 27 kV and a SDNR of 5, the mean glandular dose associated with the use of W/Rh was reduced by 49% when compared to the molybdenum/molybdenum (Mo/Mo) anode/filter combination and by 33% when compared to Mo/Rh. Based on these measurements, the use of the W/Rh anode/filter can be recommended. It remains important, however, to select the appropriate dose level.
ISSN:0938-7994
1432-1084
DOI:10.1007/s00330-006-0574-x