Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography with a compact synchrotron source

PLoS One. 2019 Oct 10;14(10):e0222816. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222816. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

For early breast cancer detection, mammography is nowadays the commonly used standard imaging approach, offering a valuable clinical tool for visualization of suspicious findings like microcalcifications and tumors within the breast. However, due to the superposition of anatomical structures, the sensitivity of mammography screening is limited. Within the last couple of years, the implementation of contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) based on K-edge subtraction (KES) imaging helped to improve the identification and classification of uncertain findings. In this study, we introduce another approach for CESM based on a two-material decomposition, with which we expect fundamental improvements compared to the clinical procedure. We demonstrate the potential of our proposed method using the quasi-monochromatic radiation of a compact synchrotron source-the Munich Compact Light Source (MuCLS)-and a modified mammographic accreditation phantom. For direct comparison with the clinical CESM approach, we also performed a standard dual-energy KES at the MuCLS, which outperformed the clinical CESM images in terms of contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and spatial resolution. However, the dual-energy-based two-material decomposition approach achieved even higher CNR values. Our experimental results with quasi-monochromatic radiation show a significant improvement of the image quality at lower mean glandular dose (MGD) than the clinical CESM. At the same time, our study indicates the great potential for the material-decomposition instead of clinically used KES to improve the quantitative outcome of CESM.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Breast / diagnostic imaging*
  • Breast / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Calcinosis
  • Contrast Media / therapeutic use*
  • Early Detection of Cancer
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mammography / methods*
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Radiographic Image Enhancement
  • Synchrotrons / instrumentation

Substances

  • Contrast Media

Grants and funding

The authors acknowledge financial support from the DFG Cluster of Excellence Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP, DFG EXC-158), the Center for Advanced Laser Applications (CALA), and the DFG Research Training Group GRK 2274.