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Propagation-Based Phase-Contrast Ct of the Breast Demonstrates Higher Quality Than Conventional Absorption-Based Ct Even at Lower Radiation Dose Publisher Pubmed



Tavakoli Taba S1 ; Arhatari BD2, 3 ; Nesterets YI4, 5 ; Gadomkar Z1 ; Mayo SC4 ; Thompson D4, 5 ; Fox J6 ; Kumar B6 ; Prodanovic Z6 ; Hausermann D7 ; Maksimenko A7 ; Hall C7 ; Dimmock M6 ; Pavlov KM5, 8, 9 Show All Authors
Authors
  1. Tavakoli Taba S1
  2. Arhatari BD2, 3
  3. Nesterets YI4, 5
  4. Gadomkar Z1
  5. Mayo SC4
  6. Thompson D4, 5
  7. Fox J6
  8. Kumar B6
  9. Prodanovic Z6
  10. Hausermann D7
  11. Maksimenko A7
  12. Hall C7
  13. Dimmock M6
  14. Pavlov KM5, 8, 9
  15. Lockie D10
  16. Gity M11
  17. Peele A7
  18. Quiney HM2
  19. Lewis S1
  20. Gureyev TE1, 2, 5, 9
  21. Brennan PC1
Show Affiliations
Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Lidcombe, 2141, Australia
  2. 2. School of Physics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
  3. 3. Chemistry and Physics Department, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia
  4. 4. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Clayton, Australia
  5. 5. School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
  6. 6. Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
  7. 7. Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, Clayton, Australia
  8. 8. School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
  9. 9. School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
  10. 10. Maroondah BreastScreen, Eastern Health, Ringwood, Australia
  11. 11. Department of Radiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: Academic Radiology Published:2021


Abstract

Rationale and Objectives: Propagation-based phase-contrast CT (PB-CT) is an advanced X-ray imaging technology that exploits both refraction and absorption of the transmitted X-ray beam. This study was aimed at optimizing the experimental conditions of PB-CT for breast cancer imaging and examined its performance relative to conventional absorption-based CT (AB-CT) in terms of image quality and radiation dose. Materials and Methods: Surgically excised breast mastectomy specimens (n = 12) were scanned using both PB-CT and AB-CT techniques under varying imaging conditions. To evaluate the radiological image quality, visual grading characteristics (VGC) analysis was used in which 11 breast specialist radiologists compared the overall image quality of PB-CT images with respect to the corresponding AB-CT images. The area under the VGC curve was calculated to measure the differences between PB-CT and AB-CT images. Results: The highest radiological quality was obtained for PB-CT images using a 32 keV energy X-ray beam and by applying the Homogeneous Transport of Intensity Equation phase retrieval with the value of its parameter γ set to one-half of the theoretically optimal value for the given materials. Using these optimized conditions, the image quality of PB-CT images obtained at 4 mGy and 2 mGy mean glandular dose was significantly higher than AB-CT images at 4 mGy (AUCVGC = 0.901, p = 0.001 and AUCVGC = 0.819, p = 0.011, respectively). Conclusion: PB-CT achieves a higher radiological image quality compared to AB-CT even at a considerably lower mean glandular dose. Successful translation of the PB-CT technique for breast cancer imaging can potentially result in improved breast cancer diagnosis. © 2020