Effect of the glandular composition on digital breast tomosynthesis image quality and dose optimisation

In the image quality assessment for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), a breast phantom with an average percentage of 50 % glandular tissue is seldom used, which may not be representative of the breast tissue composition of the women undergoing such examination. This work aims at studying the effect of the glandular composition of the breast on the image quality taking into consideration different sizes of lesions. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the state-of-the-art computer program PENELOPE to validate the image acquisition system of the DBT equipment as well as to calculate the mean glandular dose for each projection image and for different breast compositions. The integrated PENELOPE imaging tool (PenEasy) was used to calculate, in mammography, for each clinical detection task the X-ray energy that maximises the figure of merit. All the 2D cranial-caudal projections for DBT were simulated and then underwent the reconstruction process applying the Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique. Finally, through signal-to-noise ratio analysis, the image quality in DBT was assessed.