PATIENT-SPECIFIC NARROW BEAM BREAST CT

项目总结/摘要 乳腺癌的早期和可靠的检测仍然是一个挑战，特别是在妇女密集， 非常致密的乳房乳腺密度与癌症的敏感性和特异性降低有关 在现有的筛查技术-乳房X线照相术和断层合成照相术中进行检测。专用乳腺CT 是解决这个问题的一个有前途的方案，因为它提供了乳房的完全断层成像， 压缩和上级肿块病变检测。然而，它还没有被广泛采用，在很大程度上， 由于三个关键限制。目前可用的专用乳腺CT架构受到限制， 微钙化的可见性、高辐射剂量水平和后乳的次优覆盖 解剖学我们的乳腺CT新设计是一项专有技术，有效地克服了这些问题， 局限性。我们通过利用窄束图像采集策略并允许 乳房的解剖结构来指示特定的成像参数。对我们的设计至关重要的是 减少对乳房的辐射剂量并实现几乎无散射的图像采集，从而 增加微钙化的可见性。我们设计的独特架构有助于改善 覆盖胸壁解剖结构和双侧乳房同时成像的可能性 而不需要患者重新定位。我们进行了一系列初步的模拟研究， 评估这些成果，并在出版物中报告了结果。在这个第一阶段的项目中，我们寻求 完成我们设计的物理原型，以复制模拟结果。我们的最终产品 第二阶段的完成将是一种新型的专用乳腺CT技术，可用于筛查， 诊断应用。该产品将作为后续技术插件的平台， 集成活检、计算机辅助检测和计算机辅助诊断。

Project Summary/Abstract Early and reliable detection of breast cancer remains a challenge, particularly in women with dense and extremely dense breasts. Breast density is associated with reduced sensitivity and specificity of cancer detection in established screening technologies – mammography and tomosynthesis. Dedicated breast CT is a promising solution to this problem as it provides fully tomographic imaging of the breast without compression and superior mass lesion detection. It has not yet been widely adopted, however, in large part due to three key limitations. Currently available architectures of dedicated breast CT suffer from limited visibility of microcalcifications, high radiation dose levels, and suboptimal coverage of the posterior breast anatomy. Our novel design for breast CT is a proprietary technology that effectively overcomes these limitations. We accomplish this by utilizing narrow-beam image acquisition strategy and allowing the anatomy of the breast to dictate specific imaging parameters. Critical to our design are the significant reduction in radiation dose to breast and achievement of near scatter-free image acquisition, thereby increasing the visibility of microcalcifications. The unique architecture of our design facilitates improved coverage of the chest wall anatomy and the potential for simultaneous bilateral imaging of both breasts without the need for patient repositioning. We have conducted a series of preliminary simulation studies to evaluate these gains and have reported the results in publications. In this Phase 1 project, we seek to complete a physical prototype of our design to replicate the simulation results. Our final product on completion of Phase 2 will be a novel dedicated breast CT technology that can be used for screening and diagnostic applications. This product will serve as a platform for subsequent technology plug-ins such as integrated biopsy, computer aided detection and computer aided diagnosis.