Application of a dual energy X-ray imaging method on breast specimen

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a dual energy method, developed by our group, on a breast cancer specimen. A modified radiographic X-ray tube combined with a high resolution complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) X-ray detector was used. A 40/70 kV spectral combination was filtered with 100 μm cadmium (Cd) and 1000 μm copper (Cu) for the low/high-energy combination. Dual energy images were obtained from a formalin-fixed breast cancer specimen for various entrance surface doses (ESD). Initial results showed that the DE images were directly comparable with the mammographic image and similar or even increased calcification information was identified, with mean glandular dose values at acceptable levels. Keywords: Dual energy, Calcifications, X-rays, CMOS