Microbubbles as a contrast agent in grating interferometry mammography: an ex vivo proof-of-mechanism study
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Date
2019
Publication Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
Grating interferometry mammography (GIM) is an experimental breast imaging method at the edge of being clinically implemented. Besides attenuation, GIM can measure the refraction and scattering of x-rays resulting in differential phase contrast (DPC) and dark-field (DF) images. In this exploratory study, we assessed the feasibility of using microbubbles as a contrast agent in GIM. Two millilitres of microbubbles and iodine were respectively injected into ex vivo breast phantoms, consisting of fresh chicken breasts. Native and postcontrast images were acquired with a clinically compatible GIM setup, operated at 38 kVp, 14-s acquisition time, and with a dose of 1.3 mGy. The visibility of the contrast agents was analysed in a side-by-side comparison by three radiologists. The contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) was calculated for each contrast agent. We found that both contrast agents were judged to be visible by the readers. The mean CNR was 3.1 ± 1.9 for microbubbles in DF and 24.2 ± 6.5 for iodine in attenuation. In conclusion, this is a first proof-of-mechanism study that microbubbles could be used as a contrast agent in clinically compatible GIM, due to their scattering properties, which implies the potential use of a contrast agent with a high safety profile in x-ray-based breast imaging.
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published
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3 (1)
Pages / Article No.
19
Publisher
Springer
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Subject
Contrast media; Interferometry; Mammography; Microbubbles; Phantoms (imaging)
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Funding
183568 - GI-BCT - Clinical Grating Interferometry Breast Computed Tomography (SNF)
154472 - Med-XPhase – Phase contrast X-ray imaging as a new diagnostic tool (SNF)
310005 - Phase contrast X-ray imaging for medicine (EC)
154472 - Med-XPhase – Phase contrast X-ray imaging as a new diagnostic tool (SNF)
310005 - Phase contrast X-ray imaging for medicine (EC)