Validity of Using Accreditation Phantom in Quality Control of Digital Tomosynthesis

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Radiology
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Image quality assessment is crucial for mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT).
• Standardized phantoms are essential for evaluating imaging system performance.
• Commonly used phantoms include the CIRS 15 mammographic accreditation phantom (MAP) and CIRS 20 (BR3D) breast imaging phantom.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the image quality assessment capabilities of the MAP and CIRS 20 phantoms.
• To evaluate phantom performance across different full-field digital mammography (FFDM) and DBT imaging parameters.
• To determine the suitability of each phantom for specific aspects of mammography quality control.

Main Methods:

• Utilized mammography units with various target/filter combinations and kVp settings (28 and 32).
• Acquired and evaluated 24 images using both the CIRS 15 MAP and CIRS 20 phantoms.
• Determined image score based on the smallest detectable object size and analyzed data using the Mann-Whitney test.

Main Results:

• Significant differences (p<0.001) were observed in the detectability of fibers between the two phantoms.
• No significant differences were found in the detectability of specks between the phantoms.
• Overall, the CIRS 20 phantom demonstrated superior visibility of smaller structures compared to the MAP phantom.

Conclusions:

• Both FFDM and DBT imaging revealed significant differences in fiber and speck visibility between the phantoms (p<0.02).
• The CIRS 20 phantom offers enhanced visualization of subtle details, making it valuable for specific assessments.
• The MAP phantom is well-suited for comprehensive image quality assessment in both FFDM and DBT systems.