Exploring the relationship between SDNR and detectability in dual-energy breast x-ray imaging

Roshan Karunamuni; Swathiu Kanamaluru; Kristen Lau; Sara Gavenonis; Predrag R. Bakic; Andrew D. A. Maidment

doi:10.1117/12.2008114

19 March 2013 Exploring the relationship between SDNR and detectability in dual-energy breast x-ray imaging

Roshan Karunamuni, Swathiu Kanamaluru, Kristen Lau, Sara Gavenonis, Predrag R. Bakic, Andrew D. A. Maidment

Proceedings Volume 8668, Medical Imaging 2013: Physics of Medical Imaging; 866863 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2008114
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2013, Lake Buena Vista (Orlando Area), Florida, United States

Abstract

Contrast-enhanced (CE) digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) provides a technique to increase the contrast of radiographic imaging agents by suppressing soft-tissue signal variation. By reducing the effect of the soft-tissue anatomical noise, it is then possible to quantify the signal from an iodinated contrast agent. The combination of dual-energy and tomographic acquisitions allows for both the accurate quantification and localization of an iodinated lesion. Here, we present our findings demonstrating the relationship that exists between the signal difference to noise ratio (SDNR) and reader detectability of iodinated lesions in a physical anthropomorphic phantom. The observer study was conducted using the ViewDEX software platform with a total of nine readers. The readers were asked to score each of the iodinated lesions on a scale from 1 (entire boundary and area are visible) to 5 (not visible). Both SDNR and lesion detectability were found to improve as the concentration of the iodine increases, and the thickness of the phantom decreases. Lesion detectability was better in the tomographic slice that best matches the focal plane of the imaged object. However, SDNR does not significantly change with focal plane. Our results demonstrated that observer lesion detectability correlated well with SDNR. Lesions whose SDNR fell below 1 were difficult to distinguish from the background and were in general not visible. Lesions that were rated entirely visible corresponded to those with SDNR values above 3. Lesions with intermediate SDNR values were visualized but not confidently from the surrounding background. These threshold SDNR values can be used to optimize the imaging parameters in CE-DBT.

Citation Download Citation

Roshan Karunamuni, Swathiu Kanamaluru, Kristen Lau, Sara Gavenonis, Predrag R. Bakic, and Andrew D. A. Maidment "Exploring the relationship between SDNR and detectability in dual-energy breast x-ray imaging", Proc. SPIE 8668, Medical Imaging 2013: Physics of Medical Imaging, 866863 (19 March 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2008114

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