ECR: Sectra touts feasibility of color mammography
The combination of low-dose photon-counting and contrast-enhanced tomosynthesis may provide a diagnostic benefit, according to a study published in the February issue of Radiology and presented at a symposium dedicated to breast cancer detection and ways of improving cancer detection with photon-counting technology at the 2011 European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna, March 3 to March 7.
Single shot spectral imaging is enabled using Sectra’s photon-counting MicroDose Mammography system. The technology detects photons with different energies and color in a single x-ray exposure instead of multiple exposures. The spectral information allows readers to determine the tissue type of the breast by the measured photon energies, which may improve cancer detection, according to Sectra.
The two-part study started with a phantom model, in which contrast was injected prior to spectral imaging. Images were subtracted to delete the phantom model and then evaluated by one radiologist.
The patient study enrolled ten women scheduled to undergo pathohistologic verification from February to March 2010. Each participant underwent contrast-enhanced photon-count tomosynthesis, mammography, MRI, ultrasound and biopsy within a three-week period. Four radiologists rated all lesions according to modified BI-RADS criteria (1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 4c and 5). The physicians also assessed whether contrast agent enhancement was visible on the spectral images acquired at 120 or 480 seconds after contrast agent administration.
The radiologist completing the phantom study confirmed that “iodine was clearly visible on the original images (low energy, total energy) and on the subtracted combined-energy images for simulated tumor sizes of at least 5 mm in diameter,” according to Florian F. Schmitzberger, MS, of Charite University in Berlin and colleagues.
For the patient study, all radiologists assigned nine of 10 patients a BI-RADS score of 4 or 5 when evaluating mammography with ultrasound and mammography with MRI. When considering mammography images only, six of the 10 patients were assigned a BI-RADS score of 4a or higher, reported the authors.
“When reviewing the spectral images alone, seven cases were correctly identified by all readers as suspicious,” wrote Schmitzberger, who termed spectral imaging a success in these seven cases.
Schmitzberger and colleagues referred to potential improvements in the technology, noting that determining the ideal weighting for subtraction between two energy doses is challenging and requires additional work. Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that the technology is feasible and suggested the need for further study of low-dose photon-counting tomosynthesis in combination with a contrast agent.
Single shot spectral imaging is enabled using Sectra’s photon-counting MicroDose Mammography system. The technology detects photons with different energies and color in a single x-ray exposure instead of multiple exposures. The spectral information allows readers to determine the tissue type of the breast by the measured photon energies, which may improve cancer detection, according to Sectra.
The two-part study started with a phantom model, in which contrast was injected prior to spectral imaging. Images were subtracted to delete the phantom model and then evaluated by one radiologist.
The patient study enrolled ten women scheduled to undergo pathohistologic verification from February to March 2010. Each participant underwent contrast-enhanced photon-count tomosynthesis, mammography, MRI, ultrasound and biopsy within a three-week period. Four radiologists rated all lesions according to modified BI-RADS criteria (1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 4c and 5). The physicians also assessed whether contrast agent enhancement was visible on the spectral images acquired at 120 or 480 seconds after contrast agent administration.
The radiologist completing the phantom study confirmed that “iodine was clearly visible on the original images (low energy, total energy) and on the subtracted combined-energy images for simulated tumor sizes of at least 5 mm in diameter,” according to Florian F. Schmitzberger, MS, of Charite University in Berlin and colleagues.
For the patient study, all radiologists assigned nine of 10 patients a BI-RADS score of 4 or 5 when evaluating mammography with ultrasound and mammography with MRI. When considering mammography images only, six of the 10 patients were assigned a BI-RADS score of 4a or higher, reported the authors.
“When reviewing the spectral images alone, seven cases were correctly identified by all readers as suspicious,” wrote Schmitzberger, who termed spectral imaging a success in these seven cases.
Schmitzberger and colleagues referred to potential improvements in the technology, noting that determining the ideal weighting for subtraction between two energy doses is challenging and requires additional work. Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that the technology is feasible and suggested the need for further study of low-dose photon-counting tomosynthesis in combination with a contrast agent.