Initial Steps of Objective Measurements of Image Quality in Phase-Contrast vs. Digital Mammography

Phase-contrast mammography with synchrotron radiation is an innovative x-ray imaging technique that improves the identification of breast lesions. Previous studies have proven the superiority of the mammography images taken in the phase contrast modality using synchrotron radiation beams as compared with images taken in conventional mammography by subjective analyses. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has compared different acquisition systems in order to quantify this improvement by means of objective robust indicators. In this research, we intend to quantify the superiority of phase contrast imaging by means of objective metrics of image quality. The initial analyses were made using phantom images from two digital equipment for mammography and phase contrast images using synchrotron radiation. The acquisition conditions were varied and three indexes of image quality estimated in order to compare the image quality. The results showed an improvement of the contrast in phase contrast images. This contrast improvements is important in the detection of small lesions and details.