Evaluation of the average glandular dose obtained through the Volpara dose and Dicom heading software

Breast cancer is the name given to the pathological behavior expressed by the body's cells, which have altered genetic material, form accumulations of cancer cells called tumors or malignant neoplasms. Mammography is still the most efficient technique for early detection of breast cancer, making it crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. The mean glandular dose (DGM) is widely accepted as the most suitable measure to predict the risk of radiation-induced cancer, so it is used to estimate a proven dose of the mammography test. Glandular dose values today by mammography unit manufacturers use various calculations based on un customized assumptions about breast glandularity, which can result in the dose being underestimated or overestimated. Volpara-Dose-RT is a globally accepted algorithm that uses the patient's specific breast volume density to generate DGM accordingly. Thus, the objective of this work is to evaluate the results of the glandular mean dose DGM provided in two different methodologies: Volpara-Dose and DICOM header. For this, statistical treatment of the data was performed using the Student test (comparison of means), graphic comparisons (box plot, error bar and histogram) and percentage variation value. It was found in this work that, as indicative of DGM from DICOM, they are different from those from the Volpara Dose software using Student's t statistics. (author)