title: High-resolution, low-dose phase contrast X-ray tomography for 3D diagnosis of human breast cancers.
abstract: Mammography is the primary imaging tool for screening and diagnosis of human breast cancers, but ~10-20% of palpable tumors are not detectable on mammograms and only about 40% of biopsied lesions are malignant. Here we report a high-resolution, low-dose phase contrast X-ray tomographic method for 3D diagnosis of human breast cancers. By combining phase contrast X-ray imaging with an image reconstruction method known as equally sloped tomography, we imaged a human breast in three dimensions and identified a malignant cancer with a pixel size of 92 μm and a radiation dose less than that of dual-view mammography. According to a blind evaluation by five independent radiologists, our method can reduce the radiation dose and acquisition time by ~74% relative to conventional phase contrast X-ray tomography, while maintaining high image resolution and image contrast. These results demonstrate that high-resolution 3D diagnostic imaging of human breast cancers can, in principle, be performed at clinical compatible doses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Yunzhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coan
authors.forename: Zhifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Aniko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sztrókay
authors.forename: Paul Claude
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Diemoz
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liebhardt
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mittone
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gasilov
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bravin
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D014056:Tomography, X-Ray / Q000379:methods*