Clinical study in phase- contrast mammography: image-quality analysis.

The first clinical study of phase-contrast mammography (PCM) with synchrotron radiation was carried out at the Synchrotron Radiation for Medical Physics beamline of the Elettra synchrotron radiation facility in Trieste (Italy) in 2006-2009. The study involved 71 patients with unresolved breast abnormalities after conventional digital mammography and ultrasonography exams carried out at the Radiology Department of Trieste University Hospital. These cases were referred for mammography at the synchrotron radiation facility, with images acquired using a propagation-based phase-contrast imaging technique.

Mammography with synchrotron radiation: first clinical experience with phase-detection technique.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the diagnostic contribution of mammography with synchrotron radiation in patients with questionable or suspicious breast abnormalities identified at combined digital mammography (DM) and ultrasonography (US).

Materials And Methods: The ethics committee approved this prospective study, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients. Mammography with synchrotron radiation was performed with a phase-detection technique at a synchrotron radiation laboratory.

Breast tomography with synchrotron radiation: preliminary results.

A system for in vivo breast imaging with monochromatic x-rays has been designed and built at the synchrotron radiation facility Elettra in Trieste (Italy) and will be operational in 2004. The system design involves the possibility of performing both planar mammography and breast tomography. In the present work, the first results obtained with a test set-up for breast tomography are shown and discussed.