US EPA

1767294 

Journal Article 

Bone mineral imaging using a digital magnification mammography system - art. no. 691358 

Toyofuku, F; Tokumori, K; Higashida, Y; Arimura, H; Morishita, J; Ohki, M 

2008 

Unk 

Proceedings of SPIE
ISSN: 0277-786X
EISSN: 1996-756X 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF PHOTO-OPTICAL INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERS (SPIE) 

6913 

91358-91358 

WOS:000256660300177 

The measurement of bone mineral content is important for
diagnosis of demineralization diseases such as osteoporosis. A reliable method of obtaining bone
mineral images using a digital magnification mammography system has been developed. The full-
field digital phase contrast mammography (PCM) system, which has a molybdenum target of 0.1 mm
focal spot size, was used with 1.75 x magnification. We have performed several phantom
experiments using aluminum step wedges (0.2 mm - 6.0 mm in thickness) and a bone mineral standard
phantom composed of calcium carbonate and polyurethane (CaCO3 concentration: 26.7 - 939.0 mg/cm
(3)) within a water or Lucite phantom. X-ray spectra on the exposure field are measured using a
CdTe detector for evaluation of heel effect. From the equations of x-ray attenuation and the
thickness of the subjects, quantitative images of both components were obtained. The quantitative
images of the two components were obtained for different tube voltages of 24 kV to 39 kV. The
relative accuracy was less than 2.5% for the entire aluminum thickness of 0.5 to 6.0 mm at 5 cm
water thickness. Accuracy of bone mineral thickness was within 3.5% for 5cm water phantom. The
magnified quantitative images of a hand phantom significantly increased the visibility of fine
structures of bones. The digital magnification mammography system is useful not only for
measurement of bone mineral content, but also high-resolution quantitative imaging of trabecular
structure. 

digital mammography; quantitative imaging; bone mineral; magnification radiography; x-ray spectrum