Development and experience of quality control methods for digital breast tomosynthesis systems

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiology
• Quality Control

Background:

• Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) offers advanced imaging capabilities over 2D mammography.
• Standardized quality control (QC) is crucial for ensuring the reliable performance of DBT systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement novel tomosynthesis-specific quality control (QC) test methods.
• To evaluate the performance of DBT systems in a comparative trial against 2D mammography using these QC tests.

Main Methods:

• Developed adapted and novel tomosynthesis QC protocols, including tests for dose, contrast-to-noise ratio, geometric distortion, artifacts, and image homogeneity.
• Applied these DBT QC methods alongside established 2D QC tests.

Main Results:

• Summaries of results from the tomosynthesis QC tests were generated.
• Comparative results between DBT and 2D mammography QC tests were presented.

Conclusions:

• The developed tomosynthesis QC tests and analysis methods were successfully applied, providing valuable insights for DBT QC programs.
• The experience gained informed the subsequent development of DBT QC protocols in the UK and Europe.