Characterization of paraffin based breast tissue equivalent phantom using a CdTe detector pulse height analysis.

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Accurate breast tissue mimicking phantoms are crucial for mammography quality assurance and research.
• Developing cost-effective and reproducible phantom materials remains an ongoing challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of paraffin-based mixtures with boric acid (H3BO3) and calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O) as breast tissue-equivalent phantom materials.
• To characterize the radiation attenuation properties of these novel phantom materials.

Main Methods:

• Slab phantoms were fabricated by mixing paraffin with varying concentrations of H3BO3 and CaSO4·2H2O.
• First half-value layer (HVL) measurements were performed using pulse-height spectroscopy with a CdTe detector in the mammographic energy range (23-35 kVp).
• Transmission data was acquired using Mo/Mo and Mo/Rh target/filter combinations, analyzed using the Archer model, and compared to standard mammography phantoms (CIRS, PMMA).

Main Results:

• The fabricated paraffin-based phantoms demonstrated transmission characteristics.
• Mass attenuation coefficients and HVLs of certain mixtures closely matched those of commercially available mammography phantoms.
• The developed material showed potential for mimicking breast tissue properties.

Conclusions:

• Paraffin-based phantoms incorporating specific proportions of boric acid and calcium sulfate dihydrate exhibit suitable properties for breast tissue mimicry.
• These novel materials represent a promising, potentially cost-effective alternative for mammography phantom development.