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Pre-processing for image quality improvement in simultaneous DBT and mechanical imaging

Bakic, Predrag R. LU ; Dustler, Magnus LU ; Ng, Susan ; Maidment, Andrew D.A. ; Zackrisson, Sophia LU and Tingberg, Anders LU (2020) Medical Imaging 2020: Physics of Medical Imaging In Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE 11312.
Abstract

Simultaneous digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and mechanical imaging (MI) offer the potential to combine anatomic information from DBT with functional information from MI. This makes it possible to associate tissue stiffness with specific anatomic structures in the breast, a combination that can reduce false-positive findings by using the MI data to discriminate between ambiguous lesions in DBT. This, in turn, will reduce the frequency of negative biopsies. Simultaneous imaging requires that the MI sensor array be present during DBT acquisition. This introduces artifacts, since the sensor is attenuating. Previously, we demonstrated that the DBT reconstruction could be modified to reduce sensor conspicuity in DBT images. In this paper,... (More)

Simultaneous digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and mechanical imaging (MI) offer the potential to combine anatomic information from DBT with functional information from MI. This makes it possible to associate tissue stiffness with specific anatomic structures in the breast, a combination that can reduce false-positive findings by using the MI data to discriminate between ambiguous lesions in DBT. This, in turn, will reduce the frequency of negative biopsies. Simultaneous imaging requires that the MI sensor array be present during DBT acquisition. This introduces artifacts, since the sensor is attenuating. Previously, we demonstrated that the DBT reconstruction could be modified to reduce sensor conspicuity in DBT images. In this paper, we characterize the relative attenuation of the breast and the sensor, to calculate the artifact reduction in DBT reconstruction. We concentrate on pre-processing DBT projections prior to reconstruction. Using commercially available a DBT system, we have confirmed that the sensor array does not completely attenuate the x-rays. This suggests that a pre-processing method based upon flat fielding can be used to reduce artifacts. In a proof-of-concept study, we performed flat fielding by combining DBT projections of the MI sensor with and without an anthropomorphic breast phantom. Visual evaluation confirmed substantially improved image quality. The artifacts were reduced throughout the image for all sensor elements. Few residual artifacts are noticeable where the phantom thickness decreases. The investigation of additional pre-processing, including beam hardening correction is ongoing. Future work includes quantitative validation, noise stabilization, and method optimization in virtual clinical trials and subsequent patient studies.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Digital breast tomosynthesis, Flat fielding, Image quality evaluation, Mechanical imaging of the breast, Multimodality breast imaging, Virtual clinical trials
host publication
Medical Imaging 2020 : Physics of Medical Imaging - Physics of Medical Imaging
series title
Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE
editor
Chen, Guang-Hong and Bosmans, Hilde
volume
11312
article number
1131257
publisher
SPIE
conference name
Medical Imaging 2020: Physics of Medical Imaging
conference location
Houston, United States
conference dates
2020-02-16 - 2020-02-19
external identifiers
  • scopus:85086139904
ISSN
1605-7422
ISBN
9781510633919
DOI
10.1117/12.2550986
project
Simultaneous Digital Breast Tomosynthesis and Mechanical Imaging
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d535f3ea-895c-46f7-8dd8-294ee7fe4e0d
date added to LUP
2021-01-15 08:19:04
date last changed
2022-05-12 17:37:31
@inproceedings{d535f3ea-895c-46f7-8dd8-294ee7fe4e0d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Simultaneous digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and mechanical imaging (MI) offer the potential to combine anatomic information from DBT with functional information from MI. This makes it possible to associate tissue stiffness with specific anatomic structures in the breast, a combination that can reduce false-positive findings by using the MI data to discriminate between ambiguous lesions in DBT. This, in turn, will reduce the frequency of negative biopsies. Simultaneous imaging requires that the MI sensor array be present during DBT acquisition. This introduces artifacts, since the sensor is attenuating. Previously, we demonstrated that the DBT reconstruction could be modified to reduce sensor conspicuity in DBT images. In this paper, we characterize the relative attenuation of the breast and the sensor, to calculate the artifact reduction in DBT reconstruction. We concentrate on pre-processing DBT projections prior to reconstruction. Using commercially available a DBT system, we have confirmed that the sensor array does not completely attenuate the x-rays. This suggests that a pre-processing method based upon flat fielding can be used to reduce artifacts. In a proof-of-concept study, we performed flat fielding by combining DBT projections of the MI sensor with and without an anthropomorphic breast phantom. Visual evaluation confirmed substantially improved image quality. The artifacts were reduced throughout the image for all sensor elements. Few residual artifacts are noticeable where the phantom thickness decreases. The investigation of additional pre-processing, including beam hardening correction is ongoing. Future work includes quantitative validation, noise stabilization, and method optimization in virtual clinical trials and subsequent patient studies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bakic, Predrag R. and Dustler, Magnus and Ng, Susan and Maidment, Andrew D.A. and Zackrisson, Sophia and Tingberg, Anders}},
  booktitle    = {{Medical Imaging 2020 : Physics of Medical Imaging}},
  editor       = {{Chen, Guang-Hong and Bosmans, Hilde}},
  isbn         = {{9781510633919}},
  issn         = {{1605-7422}},
  keywords     = {{Digital breast tomosynthesis; Flat fielding; Image quality evaluation; Mechanical imaging of the breast; Multimodality breast imaging; Virtual clinical trials}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SPIE}},
  series       = {{Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE}},
  title        = {{Pre-processing for image quality improvement in simultaneous DBT and mechanical imaging}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2550986}},
  doi          = {{10.1117/12.2550986}},
  volume       = {{11312}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}