Evaluation of the clinical performance by using the effective DQE for a prototype digital breast tomosynthesis system

Early experience with the application of tomosynthesis to breast imaging has shown the potential of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), which can improve the specificity of mammography with improved marginal visibility of the lesion and early breast cancer detection, especially for women with dense breasts. The purpose of this study is to characterize the physical properties of the DBT system and to optimize the exposure conditions by using the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), the scatter fraction, the transmission fraction and the effective detective quantum efficiency (eDQE) for different breast thicknesses. The first-generation KERI prototype digital tomosynthesis system for breast imaging using a CMOS flat panel detector was used in this study. The spatial frequency depend on metrics depend on both the inherent properties of the detector and the imaging geometry including breast thickness. For a thicker breast, the eDQE decreases as the scatter fraction increases at a fixed tube voltage. Moreover, the MTF shows no significant difference with changing tube voltage while the eDQE at 27 kVp is slightly degraded. Consequently, the above critical properties of the DBT system for different exposure conditions and breast thicknesses should be fully considered before building the system and using it application in clinical applications.