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Wang J, Liu Y, Hu A, Wu Z, Zhang H, Li J, Qiu R. THUBreast: an open-source breast phantom generation software for x-ray imaging and dosimetry. Phys Med Biol 2024; 69:065004. [PMID: 38346343 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad2881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Objective. Establishing realistic phantoms of human anatomy is a continuing concern within virtual clinical trials of breast x-ray imaging. However, little attention has been paid to glandular distribution within these phantoms. The principal objective of this study was to develop breast phantoms considering the clinical glandular distribution.Approach. This research introduces an innovative method for integrating glandular distribution information into breast phantoms. We have developed an open-source software, THUBreast44http://github.com/true02Hydrogen/THUBreast/, which generates breast phantoms that accurately replicate both the structural texture and glandular distribution, two crucial elements in breast x-ray imaging and dosimetry. To validate the efficacy of THUBreast, we assembled three groups of breast phantoms (THUBreast, patient-based, homogeneous) for irradiation simulation and calculated the power-law exponents (β) and mean glandular dose (Dg), indicators of texture realism and radiation risk, respectively, utilizing MC-GPU.Main results. Upon the computation of theDgfor the THUBreast phantoms, it was found to be in agreement with that absorbed by the phantoms based on patients, with an average deviation of 4%. The estimates of averageDgthus obtained were on average 23% less than those computed for the homogeneous phantoms. It was observed that the homogeneous phantoms did overestimate the averageDgby 30% when compared to the phantoms based on patients. The mean value ofβfor the images of THUBreast phantoms was found to be 2.92 ± 0.08, which shows a commendable agreement with the findings of prior investigations.Significance. It is evidently clear from the results that THUBreast phantoms have a preliminary good performance in both imaging and dosimetry in terms of indicators of texture realism and glandular dose. THUBreast represents a further step towards developing a powerful toolkit for comprehensive evaluation of image quality and radiation risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahao Wang
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging, Tsinghua University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
| | - Yeqi Liu
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging, Tsinghua University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
| | - Ankang Hu
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging, Tsinghua University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhen Wu
- Joint Institute of Tsinghua University & Nuctech Company Limited Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Hui Zhang
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging, Tsinghua University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
| | - Junli Li
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging, Tsinghua University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
| | - Rui Qiu
- Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Particle and Radiation Imaging, Tsinghua University, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China
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Mettivier G, Lai Y, Jia X, Russo P. Virtual dosimetry study with three cone-beam breast computed tomography scanners using a fast GPU-based Monte Carlo code. Phys Med Biol 2024; 69:045028. [PMID: 38237186 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ad2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Objective. To compare the dosimetric performance of three cone-beam breast computed tomography (BCT) scanners, using real-time Monte Carlo-based dose estimates obtained with the virtual clinical trials (VCT)-BREAST graphical processing unit (GPU)-accelerated platform dedicated to VCT in breast imaging. Approach. A GPU-based Monte Carlo (MC) code was developed for replicatingin silicothe geometric, x-ray spectra and detector setups adopted, respectively, in two research scanners and one commercial BCT scanner, adopting 80 kV, 60 kV and 49 kV tube voltage, respectively. Our cohort of virtual breasts included 16 anthropomorphic voxelized breast phantoms from a publicly available dataset. For each virtual patient, we simulated exams on the three scanners, up to a nominal simulated mean glandular dose of 5 mGy (primary photons launched, in the order of 1011-1012per scan). Simulated 3D dose maps (recorded for skin, adipose and glandular tissues) were compared for the same phantom, on the three scanners. MC simulations were implemented on a single NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card.Main results.Using the spread of the dose distribution as a figure of merit, we showed that, in the investigated phantoms, the glandular dose is more uniform within less dense breasts, and it is more uniformly distributed for scans at 80 kV and 60 kV, than at 49 kV. A realistic virtual study of each breast phantom was completed in about 3.0 h with less than 1% statistical uncertainty, with 109primary photons processed in 3.6 s computing time.Significance. We reported the first dosimetric study of the VCT-BREAST platform, a fast MC simulation tool for real-time virtual dosimetry and imaging trials in BCT, investigating the dose delivery performance of three clinical BCT scanners. This tool can be adopted to investigate also the effects on the 3D dose distribution produced by changes in the geometrical and spectrum characteristics of a cone-beam BCT scanner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Mettivier
- Dipartimento di Fisica 'Ettore Pancini', Università di Napoli Federico II, I-80126 Naples, Italy
- INFN Sezione di Napoli, I-80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Youfang Lai
- Innovative Technology of Radiotherapy Computation and Hardware (iTORCH) Laboratory, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 752878, United States of America
| | - Xun Jia
- Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21224, United States of America
| | - Paolo Russo
- Dipartimento di Fisica 'Ettore Pancini', Università di Napoli Federico II, I-80126 Naples, Italy
- INFN Sezione di Napoli, I-80126 Naples, Italy
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Massera RT, Tomal A, Thomson RM. Multiscale Monte Carlo simulations for dosimetry in x-ray breast imaging: Part I - Macroscopic scales. Med Phys 2024; 51:1105-1116. [PMID: 38156766 DOI: 10.1002/mp.16910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND X-ray breast imaging modalities are commonly employed for breast cancer detection, from screening programs to diagnosis. Thus, dosimetry studies are important for quality control and risk estimation since ionizing radiation is used. PURPOSE To perform multiscale dosimetry assessments for different breast imaging modalities and for a variety of breast sizes and compositions. The first part of our study is focused on macroscopic scales (down to millimeters). METHODS Nine anthropomorphic breast phantoms with a voxel resolution of 0.5 mm were computationally generated using the BreastPhantom software, representing three breast sizes with three distinct values of volume glandular fraction (VGF) for each size. Four breast imaging modalities were studied: digital mammography (DM), contrast-enhanced digital mammography (CEDM), digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and dedicated breast computed tomography (BCT). Additionally, the impact of tissue elemental compositions from two databases were compared. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were performed with the MC-GPU code to obtain the 3D glandular dose distribution (GDD) for each case considered with the mean glandular dose (MGD) fixed at 4 mGy (to facilitate comparisons). RESULTS The GDD within the breast is more uniform for CEDM and BCT compared to DM and DBT. For large breasts and high VGF, the ratio between the minimum/maximum glandular dose to MGD is 0.12/4.02 for DM and 0.46/1.77 for BCT; the corresponding results for a small breast and low VGF are 0.35/1.98 (DM) and 0.63/1.42 (BCT). The elemental compositions of skin, adipose and glandular tissue have a considerable impact on the MGD, with variations up to 30% compared to the baseline. The inclusion of tissues other than glandular and adipose within the breast has a minor impact on MGD, with differences below 2%. Variations in the final compressed breast thickness alter the shape of the GDD, with a higher compression resulting in a more uniform GDD. CONCLUSIONS For a constant MGD, the GDD varies with imaging modality and breast compression. Elemental tissue compositions are an important factor for obtaining MGD values, being a source of systematic uncertainties in MC simulations and, consequently, in breast dosimetry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo T Massera
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
- Carleton Laboratory for Radiotherapy Physics, Department of Physics, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Alessandra Tomal
- Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rowan M Thomson
- Carleton Laboratory for Radiotherapy Physics, Department of Physics, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Sechopoulos I, Dance DR, Boone JM, Bosmans HT, Caballo M, Diaz O, van Engen R, Fedon C, Glick SJ, Hernandez AM, Hill ML, Hulme KW, Longo R, Rabin C, Sanderink WBG, Seibert JA. Joint AAPM Task Group 282/EFOMP Working Group Report: Breast dosimetry for standard and contrast-enhanced mammography and breast tomosynthesis. Med Phys 2024; 51:712-739. [PMID: 38018710 DOI: 10.1002/mp.16842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Currently, there are multiple breast dosimetry estimation methods for mammography and its variants in use throughout the world. This fact alone introduces uncertainty, since it is often impossible to distinguish which model is internally used by a specific imaging system. In addition, all current models are hampered by various limitations, in terms of overly simplified models of the breast and its composition, as well as simplistic models of the imaging system. Many of these simplifications were necessary, for the most part, due to the need to limit the computational cost of obtaining the required dose conversion coefficients decades ago, when these models were first implemented. With the advancements in computational power, and to address most of the known limitations of previous breast dosimetry methods, a new breast dosimetry method, based on new breast models, has been developed, implemented, and tested. This model, developed jointly by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the European Federation for Organizations of Medical Physics, is applicable to standard mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, and their contrast-enhanced variants. In addition, it includes models of the breast in both the cranio-caudal and the medio-lateral oblique views. Special emphasis was placed on the breast and system models used being based on evidence, either by analysis of large sets of patient data or by performing measurements on imaging devices from a range of manufacturers. Due to the vast number of dose conversion coefficients resulting from the developed model, and the relative complexity of the calculations needed to apply it, a software program has been made available for download or online use, free of charge, to apply the developed breast dosimetry method. The program is available for download or it can be used directly online. A separate User's Guide is provided with the software.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Sechopoulos
- Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Dutch Expert Centre for Screening (LRCB), Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - David R Dance
- National Co-ordinating Centre for the Physics of Mammography (NCCPM), Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, UK
| | - John M Boone
- University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | | | - Marco Caballo
- Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Ruben van Engen
- Dutch Expert Centre for Screening (LRCB), Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Fedon
- Radboud University Medical Center (now at Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group, NRG), Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Tseng HW, Karellas A, Vedantham S. Dedicated cone-beam breast CT: Data acquisition strategies based on projection angle-dependent normalized glandular dose coefficients. Med Phys 2023; 50:1406-1417. [PMID: 36427332 PMCID: PMC10207937 DOI: 10.1002/mp.16129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dedicated cone-beam breast computed tomography (CBBCT) using short-scan acquisition is being actively investigated to potentially reduce the radiation dose to the breast. This would require determining the optimal x-ray source trajectory for such short-scan acquisition. PURPOSE To quantify the projection angle-dependent normalized glandular dose coefficient (D g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ ) in CBBCT, referred to as angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ , so that the x-ray ray source trajectory that minimizes the radiation dose to the breast for short-scan acquisition can be determined. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cohort of 75 CBBCT clinical datasets was segmented and used to generate three breast models - (I) patient-specific breast with heterogeneous fibroglandular tissue distribution and real breast shape, (II) patient-specific breast shape with homogeneous tissue distribution and matched fibroglandular weight fraction, and (III) homogeneous semi-ellipsoidal breast with patient-specific breast dimensions and matched fibroglandular weight fraction, which corresponds to the breast model used in current radiation dosimetry protocols. For each clinical dataset, the angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ was obtained at 10 discrete angles, spaced 36° apart, for full-scan, circular, x-ray source trajectory from Monte Carlo simulations. Model III is used for validating the Monte Carlo simulation results. Models II and III are used to determine if breast shape contributes to the observed trends in angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ . A geometry-based theory in conjunction with center-of-mass (C O M $COM$ ) based distribution analysis is used to explain the projection angle-dependent variation in angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ . RESULTS The theoretical model predicted that the angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ will follow a sinusoidal pattern and the amplitude of the sinusoid increases when the center-of-mass of fibroglandular tissue (C O M f $CO{M_f}$ ) is farther from the center-of-mass of the breast (C O M b $CO{M_b}$ ). It also predicted that the angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ will be minimized at x-ray source positions complementary to theC O M f $CO{M_f}$ . TheC O M f $CO{M_f}$ was superior to theC O M b $CO{M_b}$ in 80% (60/75) of the breasts. From Monte Carlo simulations and for homogeneous breasts (models II and III), the deviation in breast shape from a semi-ellipsoid had minimal effect on angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ and showed less than 4% variation. From Monte Carlo simulations and for model I, as predicted by our theory, the angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ followed a sinusoidal pattern with maxima and minima at x-ray source positions superior and inferior to the breast, respectively. For model I, the projection angle-dependent variation in angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ was 16.4%. CONCLUSION The heterogeneous tissue distribution affected the angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ more than the breast shape. For model I, the angularD g N C T $Dg{N^{CT}}$ was lowest when the x-ray source was inferior to the breast. Hence, for short-scan CBBCT acquisition withC O M b $CO{M_b}$ aligned with axis-of-rotation, an x-ray source trajectory inferior to the breast is preferable and such an acquisition spanning 205° can potentially reduce the mean glandular dose by up to 52%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin Wu Tseng
- Department of Medical Imaging, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
| | - Andrew Karellas
- Department of Medical Imaging, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
| | - Srinivasan Vedantham
- Department of Medical Imaging, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
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Duan X, Sahu P, Huang H, Zhao W. Deep-learning convolutional neural network-based scatter correction for contrast enhanced digital breast tomosynthesis in both cranio-caudal and mediolateral-oblique views. J Med Imaging (Bellingham) 2023; 10:S22404. [PMID: 36937988 PMCID: PMC10016368 DOI: 10.1117/1.jmi.10.s2.s22404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Scatter radiation in contrast-enhanced digital breast tomosynthesis (CEDBT) reduces the image quality and iodinated lesion contrast. Monte Carlo simulation can provide accurate scatter estimation at the cost of computational burden. A model-based convolutional method trades off accuracy for processing speed. The purpose of this study is to develop a fast and robust deep-learning (DL) convolutional neural network (CNN)-based scatter correction method for CEDBT. Approach Projection images and scatter maps of digital anthropomorphic breast phantoms were generated using Monte Carlo simulations. Experiments were conducted to validate the simulated scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR) at different locations of a breast phantom. Simulated projection images were used for CNN training and testing. Two separate U-Nets [low-energy (LE)-CNN and high-energy (HE)-CNN] were trained for LE and HE spectrum, respectively. CNN-based scatter correction was applied to a clinical case with a malignant iodinated mass to evaluate the influence on the lesion detection. Results The average and standard deviation of mean absolute percentage error of LE-CNN and HE-CNN estimated scatter map are 2 % ± 0.4 % and 2.4 % ± 0.8 % , respectively. For clinical cases, the lesion signal difference to noise ratio average improvement was 190% after CNN-based scatter correction. To conduct scatter correction on clinical CEDBT images, the whole process of loading CNNs parameters and scatter correction for LE and HE images took < 4 s , with 9 GB GPU computational cost. The SPR variation across the breast agrees between experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulations. Conclusions We developed a CNN-based scatter correction method for CEDBT in both CC view and mediolateral-oblique view with high accuracy and fast speed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Duan
- Stony Brook Medicine, Department of Radiology, Stony Brook, New York, United States
| | - Pranjal Sahu
- Stony Brook University, Department of Computer Science, Stony Brook, New York, United States
| | - Hailiang Huang
- Stony Brook Medicine, Department of Radiology, Stony Brook, New York, United States
| | - Wei Zhao
- Stony Brook Medicine, Department of Radiology, Stony Brook, New York, United States
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Physical and digital phantoms for 2D and 3D x-ray breast imaging: Review on the state-of-the-art and future prospects. Radiat Phys Chem Oxf Engl 1993 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2022.110715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Marshall NW, Bosmans H. Performance evaluation of digital breast tomosynthesis systems: physical methods and experimental data. Phys Med Biol 2022; 67. [DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac9a35] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) has become a well-established breast imaging technique, whose performance has been investigated in many clinical studies, including a number of prospective clinical trials. Results from these studies generally point to non-inferiority in terms of microcalcification detection and superior mass-lesion detection for DBT imaging compared to digital mammography (DM). This modality has become an essential tool in the clinic for assessment and ad-hoc screening but is not yet implemented in most breast screening programmes at a state or national level. While evidence on the clinical utility of DBT has been accumulating, there has also been progress in the development of methods for technical performance assessment and quality control of these imaging systems. DBT is a relatively complicated ‘pseudo-3D’ modality whose technical assessment poses a number of difficulties. This paper reviews methods for the technical performance assessment of DBT devices, starting at the component level in part one and leading up to discussion of system evaluation with physical test objects in part two. We provide some historical and basic theoretical perspective, often starting from methods developed for DM imaging. Data from a multi-vendor comparison are also included, acquired under the medical physics quality control protocol developed by EUREF and currently being consolidated by a European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics working group. These data and associated methods can serve as a reference for the development of reference data and provide some context for clinical studies.
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