Propagation-Based Phase-Contrast CT of the Breast Demonstrates Higher Quality Than Conventional Absorption-Based CT Even at Lower Radiation Dose

Tavakoli Taba, Seyedamir; Arhatari, Benedicta D.; Nesterets, Yakov I.; Gadomkar, Ziba; Mayo, Sheridan C.; Thompson, Darren; Fox, Jane; Kumar, Beena; Prodanovic, Zdenka; Hausermann, Daniel; Maksimenko, Anton; Hall, Christopher; Dimmock, Matthew; Pavlov, Konstantin M.; Lockie, Darren; Gity, Masoumeh; Peele, Andrew; Quiney, Harry M.; Lewis, Sarah; Gureyev, Timur E.; Brennan, Patrick C.

Abstract

Rationale and Objectives
Propagation-based phase-contrast CT (PB-CT) is an advanced X-ray imaging technology that exploits both refraction and absorption of the transmitted X-ray beam. This study was aimed at optimizing the experimental conditions of PB-CT for breast cancer imaging and examined its performance relative to conventional absorption-based CT (AB-CT) in terms of image quality and radiation dose.

Materials and Methods
Surgically excised breast mastectomy specimens (n = 12) were scanned using both PB-CT and AB-CT techniques under varying imaging conditions. To evaluate the radiological image quality, visual grading characteristics (VGC) analysis was used in which 11 breast specialist radiologists compared the overall image quality of PB-CT images with respect to the corresponding AB-CT images. The area under the VGC curve was calculated to measure the differences between PB-CT and AB-CT images.

Results
The highest radiological quality was obtained for PB-CT images using a 32 keV energy X-ray beam and by applying the Homogeneous Transport of Intensity Equation phase retrieval with the value of its parameter γ set to one-half of the theoretically optimal value for the given materials. Using these optimized conditions, the image quality of PB-CT images obtained at 4 mGy and 2 mGy mean glandular dose was significantly higher than AB-CT images at 4 mGy (AUCVGC = 0.901, p = 0.001 and AUCVGC = 0.819, p = 0.011, respectively).

Conclusion
PB-CT achieves a higher radiological image quality compared to AB-CT even at a considerably lower mean glandular dose. Successful translation of the PB-CT technique for breast cancer imaging can potentially result in improved breast cancer diagnosis.

Citation

Tavakoli Taba, S., Arhatari, B. D., Nesterets, Y. I., Gadomkar, Z., Mayo, S. C., Thompson, D., Fox, J., Kumar, B., Prodanovic, Z., Hausermann, D., Maksimenko, A., Hall, C., Dimmock, M., Pavlov, K. M., Lockie, D., Gity, M., Peele, A., Quiney, H. M., Lewis, S., Gureyev, T. E., & Brennan, P. C. (2021). Propagation-Based Phase-Contrast CT of the Breast Demonstrates Higher Quality Than Conventional Absorption-Based CT Even at Lower Radiation Dose. Academic radiology, 28(1), e20-e26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2020.01.009

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 7, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Deposit Date: Jun 2, 2023
• Journal: Academic Radiology
• Print ISSN: 1076-6332
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 1
• Pages: e20-e26
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2020.01.009
• Keywords: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/435062
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Propagation-Based Phase-Contrast CT of the Breast Demonstrates Higher Quality Than Conventional Absorption-Based CT Even at Lower Radiation Dose; Journal Title: Academic Radiology; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2020.01.009; Content Type: article; Copyright: Crown Copyright © 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Association of University Radiologists. All rights reserved.