Analysis of a novel offset cone-beam computed mammotomography system geometry for accomodating various breast sizes.

We evaluate a newly developed dedicated cone-beam transmission computed mammotomography (CmT) system configuration using an optimized quasi-monochromatic cone beam technique for attenuation correction of SPECT in a planned dual-modality emission and transmission system for pendant, uncompressed breasts. In this study, we perform initial CmT acquisitions using various sized breast phantoms to evaluate an offset cone-beam geometry. This offset geometry provides conjugate projections through a full 360 degree gantry rotation, and thus yields a greatly increased effective field of view, allowing a much wider range of breast sizes to be imaged without truncation in reconstructed images.

Evaluation of fully 3-D emission mammotomography with a compact cadmium zinc telluride detector.

A compact, dedicated cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) gamma camera coupled with a fully three-dimensional (3-D) acquisition system may serve as a secondary diagnostic tool for volumetric molecular imaging of breast cancers, particularly in cases when mammographic findings are inconclusive. The developed emission mammotomography system comprises a medium field-of-view, quantized CZT detector and 3-D positioning gantry. The intrinsic energy resolution, sensitivity and spatial resolution of the detector are evaluated with Tc-99m (140 keV) filled flood sources, capillary line sources, and a 3-D frequency-resolution phantom.