title: The characterization of breast anatomical metrics using dedicated breast CT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Accurate anatomical characterization of the breast is useful in breast phantom development and computer modeling of breast imaging technologies. Capitalizing on the three-dimensional capabilities of dedicated breast CT (bCT), a number of parameters which describe breast shape and fibroglandular distribution are defined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 219 bCT data sets, the effective diameter and length of the pendant breast as well as the breast volume were measured and characterized for each bra cup size. The volume glandular fraction (VGF) was determined as a function of patient age, BIRADS density, bra cup size, and breast diameter. The glandular fraction was examined in coronal and sagittal planes of the breast, and the radial distribution of breast glandular fraction within a coronal bCT image was examined for three breast regions. The areal glandular fraction (AGF) was estimated from two-dimensional projections of the breast (simulated by projecting bCT data sets) and was compared to the corresponding VGF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The effective breast diameter and length increase with increasing bra cup size. The mean breast diameters (+/- standard error) of bra cup sizes A/AA, B, C, and D/DD were 11.1 +/- 0.5, 11.4 +/- 0.3, 13.0 +/- 0.2, and 13.7 +/- 0.2 cm, respectively. VGF was lower among older women and those with larger breast diameter and larger bra cup size. VGF increased as a function of the reported BIRADS density. AGF increased with VGF. Fibroglandular tissue was distributed primarily in the central portion of the breast.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breast metrics were examined and a number of parameters were defined which may be useful for breast modeling. The reported data may provide researchers with useful information for characterizing the breast for various imaging or dosimetry tasks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California-Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA. sychuang@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Shih-Ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Boone
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Nathan J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Packard
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: McKenney
authors.forename: Nicolas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Prionas
authors.forename: Karen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Lindfors
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Yaffe
mesh_terms: D001940:Breast / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods*; D009929:Organ Size