Study of photon-counting images compared with energy-integrated images for mammography

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21014/actaimeko.v13i4.1740

Keywords:

photon-counting image, energy- integrated image, mammography, X-ray, photon

Abstract

High-quality mammographic images are necessary because lesions on mammograms are sometimes difficult for the physician to interpret because they are faint and microscopic. In addition, the breast requires minimal radiation exposure. Current photon counting is energy- integrated images, not photon-counting images, which measures individual photons. In this study, we focused on a mammography system and constructed a novel scheme to experimentally and accurately compare photon-counting images with energy integrated images, where these two types of images are compared at the same total X-ray photon fluence using the same X-ray detection system. In the detecting device, a CsI(Tl) scintillator with columnar crystals is directly glued to the imaging face of an sensitive image sensor. Photon-counting and energy-integrated images were captured with different frame rates and tube currents, while the positional setting of each piece of equipment remained the same. The results showed that the gold discs in the CDMAM3.4 phantom were visually detectable in both energy-integrated and photon-counting images, although the image quality was different, consistent with the simulation. However, our detection devices are small and a larger size is essential for clinical applications.

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Published

2024-12-19

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 4 (2024)

Section

Research Papers

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Copyright (c) 2024 Norimitsu Shinohara, Toshiyuki Nishihara, Shinichi Oguchi

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