Dilon Technologies Explores Improvements in Molecular Brea...( NEWPORT NEWS Va. Nov. 7 /- This p...),Health

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- This past weekend study results on "Molecular Breast Imaging with Directly Opposing Compact Gamma Cameras" were presented at the Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The goal of the laboratory study was to evaluate the performance of a dual-head, breast-specific gamma camera system in a configuration in which the two imaging detectors are positioned on opposite sides of the breast. The detectors are aligned with each other such that the rows and columns of the pixilated crystal of each detector align precisely with the opposite detector. Imaging performance was evaluated to determine if there is any significant improvement of dual detectors vs. a single detector. The objective was to determine if the combination of the two resulting images allows for more sensitive detection of small lesions in all regions of the breast, independent of lesion location or depth, when compared to single-view imaging. The imaging system used in this study utilized two Dilon 6800 high-resolution, small field-of-view gamma detectors.

In one phantom study, contrast and signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio were calculated for simulated lesions located at various positions from the two detectors. Two methods of combining the opposing images from the two detectors were investigated -- a summed image and a product image. The images from the two detectors were combined on a pixel-by-pixel basis, either by summing the pixels (summed image) or by multiplying them (product image). The study found that the contrast in the product image is a factor of two larger than in the summed image and is always better than a single-head image.

Relative to single-sided imaging there is an advantage to dual-sided breast imaging, provided the proper algorithm (product of two images) is used. Dual-sided breast imaging using the product algorithm provides improved contrast, spatial resolution and SNR and may allow fo
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