Use of Processed Mammography Images as a Quality Control Tool

Abstract

According to international quality control testing standards, image quality determination in mammography systems is based on measuring contrast-detail measurements with contrast-detail for mammography (CDMAM) phantom. It is therefore important to evaluate the CDMAM phantom images correctly. The purpose of this study is to compare the inverse image quality figure index (IQF inv) obtained by automatically evaluating digital CDMAM phantom images with Artinis software (version 2.2, CDCOM) for raw and processed images. Methods: Digital phantom images were acquired in three different full-field digital mammography systems by using automatic exposure conditions (AEC). Five different phantom images were obtained from each mammography system as raw and processed as well as evaluated by the software. In addition, the IQF inv values of the systems were compared for mammography systems and the difference in between values was observed. Results: The differences between the IQF inv values of raw and processed images were found to be 1.34%, 5.62%, and 6.7% for System A, B, and C, respectively. Discussion and Conclusion: It was observed that the differences between the IQF inv values of raw and processed images were almost negligible and the IQF inv values obtained from the raw images were slightly higher than the values obtained from the processed images.