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Detection of Architectural Distortion in Prior Mammograms via Analysis of Oriented Patterns
Published on: August 30, 2013
Lag and ghosting in a clinical flat-panel selenium digital mammography system
Aili K Bloomquist1, Martin J Yaffe, Gordon E Mawdsley
1Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada.
Medical Physics
|September 13, 2006
Summary
Digital mammography systems using selenium detectors showed significant lag and ghosting, impacting image quality. However, newer selenium detector technology shows marked improvements in reducing these artifacts.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Radiology
- Detector Physics
Background:
- Digital mammography systems are crucial for breast cancer screening.
- Detector performance, including lag and ghosting, directly impacts diagnostic accuracy.
- Selenium-based detectors are utilized in some FDA-approved digital mammography systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify lag and ghosting artifacts in a specific FDA-approved digital mammography system.
- To compare the performance of selenium-based detectors with phosphor-based systems.
- To assess the impact of detector technology advancements on image artifacts.
Main Methods:
- Measurements of lag and ghosting were performed on six selenium detector units.
- Data were acquired under typical clinical usage conditions.
- Results were benchmarked against a phosphor-based full-field digital mammography system.
Main Results:
- Lag reached up to 0.15% of the source signal in the tested selenium detectors.
- Ghosting artifacts were as high as 15% in some units, varying between systems.
- Recent technological modifications in selenium detectors demonstrated a significant reduction in lag and ghosting.
Conclusions:
- Selenium-based digital mammography detectors can exhibit notable lag and ghosting under clinical conditions.
- Variability exists in artifact levels across different detector units.
- Advancements in selenium detector technology have successfully mitigated these image quality concerns.
