Determining the optimal angular range of the x-ray source motion in tomosynthesis using virtual clinical trials

Bruno Barufaldi; Trevor L. Vent; Raymond J. Acciavatti; Predrag R. Bakic; Peter B. Noël; Emily F. Conant; Andrew D. A. Maidment

doi:10.1117/12.2549600

16 March 2020 Determining the optimal angular range of the x-ray source motion in tomosynthesis using virtual clinical trials

Bruno Barufaldi, Trevor L. Vent, Raymond J. Acciavatti, Predrag R. Bakic, Peter B. Noël, Emily F. Conant, Andrew D. A. Maidment

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Proceedings Volume 11312, Medical Imaging 2020: Physics of Medical Imaging; 113120I (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2549600
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2020, Houston, Texas, United States

Abstract

The limited angle and limited number of projections in digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) produce under-sampled datasets that may compromise calcification detection. Small breast lesions, such as microcalcifications, may not be discernible without sufficient sampling in the reconstructed DBT images. We propose a virtual clinical trial (VCT) method to evaluate the calcification detection in DBT using computer simulations of breast phantoms, images, and virtual readers. We used multiple-reader multiple-case (MRMC) receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses to evaluate the performance of channelized Hotelling observers (CHOs) in calcification detection. The angular motion path of the x-ray source was varied to simulate different DBT acquisition geometries. We simulated continuous and step-and-shoot x-ray source motion and three angular motion paths: ±7.5°, ±15°, and ±25°. The detection of calcifications is affected by the angular motion path, particularly for the ±25° angular range, combined with continuous tube motion, larger detector element sizes (0.14 mm) and larger reconstructed voxel sizes (0.10 mm). When an angular range of ±25° is compared to ±7.5°, the difference in the area under the curve (AUC) is -0.030 (d’ ratio=0.633) and -0.067 (d’ ratio=0.584), for one and two- voxel calcifications (0.1 mm³ and 0.2 mm³), respectively. There is no significant difference in calcification detection using images acquired with ±7.5° and ±15°. The results provide insight on the impact of angular range for calcification detection, an ongoing limitation of tomosynthesis.

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Bruno Barufaldi, Trevor L. Vent, Raymond J. Acciavatti, Predrag R. Bakic, Peter B. Noël, Emily F. Conant, and Andrew D. A. Maidment "Determining the optimal angular range of the x-ray source motion in tomosynthesis using virtual clinical trials", Proc. SPIE 11312, Medical Imaging 2020: Physics of Medical Imaging, 113120I (16 March 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2549600

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KEYWORDS

Digital breast tomosynthesis

X-ray sources

Breast

Sensors

Clinical trials

Virtual reality

Computer simulations

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