AbstractID: 8588 Title: Comparison of mammographic imaging systems in the detection
of simulated microcalcifications: Flat panel, CCD and screen/film combination
Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of the detector design, calcification size and magnification on
detection of microcalcifications in uniform and breast tissue structure backgrounds.
Method: Calcium carbonate grains of various sizes (90-355 µm) were used to simulate microcalcifications. A 5 cm thick slab of 50%
adipose/50% glandular simulated breast tissue material was used to provide uniform background. An anthropomorphic breast phantom
was used to provide tissue structure background. Ten simulated calcifications from various size groups were imaged with three
different mammographic imaging systems: aSi:H/CsI(Tl) flat panel (FP), CCD based and screen/film (SF). All images were acquired
at 28 kVp and 100 mAs Mo-Rh target/filter combination. All digital images were printed onto 8”x10” hardcopies for review.
Hardcopy images from each modality were randomized for review by mammographer readers. A 5-scale confidence rating score was
given for each calcification in the image.
Results: Preliminary results indicate that with uniform background the FP system performed the best while the SF system did slightly
better than the CCD system. With magnification, all detection tasks were improved except for the smallest and largest one or two
sizes. In particular, detection in SF and CCD images was significantly improved as compared to the FP system. As the result, the
performance difference among the three systems decreased. With tissue structure background, the performance of the FP system was
equal or slightly worse than the SF and CCD systems. Improvement with magnification was not as clearly indicated as with the
uniform background.
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