Image artifact in digital breast tomosynthesis and its dependence on system and reconstruction parameters

Abstract

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is a three-dimensional (3D) imaging modality that produces cross-sectional image slices parallel to the detector plane using a limited number of views (<50) and a limited angular range (< 50 degrees). Due to the incomplete sampling of DBT, image artifacts are unavoidable. In this paper we investigated the dependence of out-of-plane image artifact on image acquisition and reconstruction parameters. The image artifact of a microcalcification (MC) was correlated with the 3D point spread function (PSF) of the DBT system, which was calculated using a cascaded linear system model. Our results show that the linear system model can be used to quantitatively predict the image artifact in DBT, and can be used as a unified tool for maximizing lesion detectability and minimizing artifact. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.