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- Title
A theoretical study on phase-contrast mammography with Thomson-scattering x-ray sources.
- Authors
De Caro, Liberato; Giannini, Cinzia; Bellotti, Roberto; Tangaro, Sabina
- Abstract
The x-ray transmitted beam from any material/tissue depends on the complex refractive index (n= 1-delta+ibeta), where delta is responsible for the phase shift and beta is for the beam attenuation. Although for human tissues, the delta cross section is about 1000 times greater than the beta ones in the x-ray energy range from 10 to 150 keV, the gain in breast tumor visualization of phase-contrast mammography (PCM) with respect to absorption contact imaging (AI) is limited by the maximum dose that can be delivered to the patient. Moreover, in-line PC imaging (PCI) is the simplest experimental mode among all available x-ray PCI techniques since no optics are needed. The latter is a fundamental requirement in order to transfer the results of laboratory research into hospitals. Alternative to synchrotron radiation sources, the implementation of relativistic Thomson-scattering (TS) x-ray sources is particularly suitable for hospital use because of their high peak brightness within a relatively compact and affordable system. In this work, the possibility to realize PCM using a TS source in a hospital environment is studied, accounting for the effect of a finite deliverable dose on the PC visibility enhancement with respect to AI.
- Publication
Medical physics, 2009, Vol 36, Issue 10, p4644
- ISSN
0094-2405
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1118/1.3213086