title: Monte Carlo simulation of a mammographic test phantom.
abstract: A test phantom, including a wide range of mammographic tissue equivalent materials and test details, was imaged on a digital mammographic system. In order to quantify the effect of scatter on the contrast obtained for the test details, calculations of the scatter-to-primary ratio (S/P) have been made using a Monte Carlo simulation of the digital mammographic imaging chain, grid and test phantom. The results show that the S/P values corresponding to the imaging conditions used were in the range 0.084-0.126. Calculated and measured pixel values in different regions of the image were compared as a validation of the model and showed excellent agreement. The results indicate the potential of Monte Carlo methods in the image quality-patient dose process optimisation, especially in the assessment of imaging conditions not available on standard mammographic units.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London SW3 6JJ, UK.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Dance
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pachoud
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alm Carlsson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sandborg
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ullman
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Verdun
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D011874:Radiometry; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D014963:X-Ray Intensifying Screens