Research Highlights

Dose-compatible grating-based phase-contrast mammography on mastectomy specimens using a compact synchrotron source

Research Highlights |


Eggl, E., Grandl, S., Sztrόkay-Gaul, A., Dierolf, M., Jud, C., Heck, L., Burger, K., Günther, B., Achterhold, K., Mayr, D... et al..  Herzen, J. Dose-compatible grating-based phase-contrast mammography on mastectomy specimens using a compact synchrotron source. Scientific reports8(1), pp.1-10 (2018). [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33628-z]

 

Purpose: A different approach to access phase information is x-ray imaging with a grating interferometer, which simultaneously provides attenuation, differential phase and dark-field signals. Several studies have already successfully shown the application of phase-contrast imaging for mammography and especially for the classification of microcalcifications. The dark-field signal is related to small-angle scattering and has been shown to improve the visibility of microcalcifications or could even help to distinguish between different types of calcifications.

 

Figure: Clinical mammography and monochromatic grating-based multimodal mammography for specimen I. (a) Monochromatic grating-based absorption-contrast (mgbAC-Mx), (b) differential phase-contrast (mgbDPC-Mx), and (c) dark-field contrast (mgbDFC-Mx) mammography. (d) Clinical ex-vivo absorptioncontrast mammography (cevAC-Mx) in anteroposterior position. (e) Clinical in-vivo absorption-contrast mammography (civAC-Mx) of specimen I in cranio-caudal position. Tumorous lesions are indicated by red arrows, the mamilla is indicated by a light blue arrow. All images were scaled for maximum detail visibility. (f) Histopathology of the mastectomy sample showing the existence of tumorous lesions (black arrows). Comparison with clinical ex-vivo mammography images showed equal diagnostic quality at lower dose or superior diagnostic quality at equal dose of the monochromatic images. Tumorous lesions could be identified significantly better in the phase-contrast modality as verified by histopathology.