Bi-directional x-ray phase-contrast mammography.
Phase-contrast x-ray imaging is a promising improvement of conventional absorption-based mammography for early tumor detection. This potential has been demonstrated recently, utilizing structured gratings to obtain differential phase and dark-field scattering images. However, the inherently anisotropic imaging sensitivity of the proposed mono-directional approach yields only insufficient diagnostic information, and has low diagnostic sensitivity to highly oriented structures. To overcome these limitations, we present a two-directional x-ray phase-contrast mammography approach and demonstrate its advantages by applying it to a freshly dissected, cancerous mastectomy breast specimen. We illustrate that the two-directional scanning procedure overcomes the insufficient diagnostic value of a single scan, and reliably detects tumor structures, independently from their orientation within the breast. Our results indicate the indispensable diagnostic necessity and benefit of a multi-directional approach for x-ray phase-contrast mammography.
Lehrstuhl für Biomedizinische Physik, Physik-Department & Institut für Medizintechnik, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany.
Kai
K
Scherer
Lehrstuhl für Biomedizinische Physik, Physik-Department & Institut für Medizintechnik, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany.
Lorenz
L
Birnbacher
Lehrstuhl für Biomedizinische Physik, Physik-Department & Institut für Medizintechnik, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany.
Michael
M
Chabior
Centre for Materials and Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany.
Julia
J
Herzen
Department of Pathology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
Doris
D
Mayr
Department of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
Susanne
S
Grandl
Department of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
Anikó
A
Sztrókay-Gaul
Department of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
Karin
K
Hellerhoff
Department of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.
Fabian
F
Bamberg
Lehrstuhl für Biomedizinische Physik, Physik-Department & Institut für Medizintechnik, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany.
Franz
F
Pfeiffer
D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity