Development of an imaging-planning program for screen/film and computed radiography mammography for breasts with short chest wall to nipple distance

Abstract

Objective: Imaging breasts with a short chest wall to nipple distance (CWND) using a traditional mammographic X-ray unit is a technical challenge for mammographers. The purpose of this study is the development of an imaging-planning program to assist in determination of imaging parameters of screen/film (SF) and computed radiography (CR) mammography for short CWND breasts. Methods: A traditional mammographic X-ray unit (Mammomat 3000, Siemens, Munich, Germany) was employed. The imaging-planning program was developed by combining the compressed breast thickness correction, the equivalent polymethylmethacrylate thickness assessment for breasts and the tube loading (mAs) measurement. Both phantom exposures and a total of 597 exposures were used for examining the imaging-planning program. Results: Results of the phantom study show that the tube loading rapidly decreased with the CWND when the automatic exposure control (AEC) detector was not fully covered by the phantom. For patient exposures with the AEC fully covered by breast tissue, the average fractional tube loadings, defined as the ratio of the predicted mAs using the imaging-planning program and mAs of the mammogram, were 1.10 and 1.07 for SF and CR mammograms, respectively. The predicted mAs values were comparable to the mAs values, as determined by the AEC. Conclusion: By applying the imaging-planning program in clinical practice, the experiential dependence of the mammographer for determination of the imaging parameters for short CWND breasts is minimised.

Determination of equivalent breast phantoms for different age groups of Taiwanese women: An experimental approach

“…Many studies 9,16,19,20 have reported techniques for correcting the CBT records obtained from imaging procedures. The CBT correction technique used in this study is identical to that in our previous studies 12,21 and is similar to the technique reported by Kruger and Schueler. 9 A 6-cm-thick BR-12 phantom (Nuclear Associates, Carle Place, NY) was used, and various forces were applied.…”