title: Full-field digital mammography image data storage reduction using a crop tool.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The storage requirements for full-field digital mammography (FFDM) in a picture archiving and communication system are significant, so methods to reduce the data set size are needed. A FFDM crop tool for this purpose was designed, implemented, and tested.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,651 screening mammography cases with bilateral FFDMs were included in this study. The images were cropped using a DICOM editor while maintaining image quality. The cases were evaluated according to the breast volume (1/4, 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4) in the craniocaudal view. The image sizes between the cropped image group and the uncropped image group were compared. The overall image quality and reader's preference were independently evaluated by the consensus of two radiologists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Digital storage requirements for sets of four uncropped to cropped FFDM images were reduced by 3.8 to 82.9 %. The mean reduction rates according to the 1/4-4/4 breast volumes were 74.7, 61.1, 38, and 24 %, indicating that the lower the breast volume, the smaller the size of the cropped data set. The total image data set size was reduced from 87 to 36.7 GB, or a 57.7 % reduction. The overall image quality and the reader's preference for the cropped images were higher than those of the uncropped images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FFDM mammography data storage requirements can be significantly reduced using a crop tool.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-Dong, Seocho-Ku, Seoul, 137-040, Korea.
authors.forename: Bong Joo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Sung Hun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeong Yi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Byung Gil
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D011873:Radiology Information Systems