Topic: Spectral Differential Phase Contrast X-ray Mammography
Speaker: Lisa Heck, doctoral candidate (Herzen Group)
Date and Time: Tuesday, 25 January 2022, 1:00 pm
Abstract: Breast cancer is a globally widespread disease whose detection has already been significantly improved by the introduction of screening programs. Nevertheless, mammography suffers from low soft tissue contrast and the superposition of diagnostically relevant anatomical structures as well as from low values for sensitivity and specificity especially for dense breast tissue. Phase-contrast X-ray imaging is a promising technique for improving conventional absorption-based mammography. This technique provides three image modalities simultaneously (absorption-contrast, phase-contrast and dark-field signal). An increased detection of breast cancer features using the phase information, or the classification of microcalcifications using the dark-field signal has been successfully demonstrated in preclinical studies. A combination of this approach with the evolving technology of spectral, energy-resolving single-photon-counting detectors is proposed to perform spectral differential phase contrast (SDPC) X-ray mammography. By using both the phase and the spectral information simultaneously, SDPC allows the acquisition of quantitative and material-specific images with lower background noise compared to absorption-based spectral imaging. The potential of SDPC for mammography is firstly evaluated in a dual-energy approach with a quasi-monochromatic X-ray source. This is followed by a simulation with a polychromatic X-ray tube employing the photon-counting detector technology. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in image quality comparing conventional spectral and SDPC imaging, i.e. noise reduction and contrast enhancement, at a clinically relevant dose level.
More information
This semester, the MIBE Seminar will take place online (Zoom). Please register via email (katharina.scholz(at)tum.de) and we are happy to provide the access data.
Further Program Winter Term 2021 / 2022
| 01. Februar 2022 | 13:00 Uhr | Julian Geilenkeuser | Doct. cand. (Westmeyer) | Engineering of a Non-Consumptive Transcriptomics Approach via Vesicular Export. |
| 08. Februar 2022 | 13:00 Uhr | Niklas Armbrust | HELENA doct. cand. (Westmeyer) | Intron-Encoded Cistronic Transcripts for Minimally-Invasive Monitoring of (Non-)Coding RNAs. |
| 15. Februar 2022 | 13:00 Uhr | Alessandro Wollek | GCB doct. cand. (Lasser) | Out-of-DIstribution Detection for Clinical Decision Support in Radiology. |