Method for inserting noise in digital mammography to simulate reduction in radiation dose

Lucas R. Borges; Helder C. R. de Oliveira; Polyana F. Nunes; Marcelo A. C. Vieira

doi:10.1117/12.2082257

18 March 2015 Method for inserting noise in digital mammography to simulate reduction in radiation dose

Lucas R. Borges, Helder C. R. de Oliveira, Polyana F. Nunes, Marcelo A. C. Vieira

Proceedings Volume 9412, Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging; 94125J (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2082257
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2015, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

The quality of clinical x-ray images is closely related to the radiation dose used in the imaging study. The general principle for selecting the radiation is ALARA (“as low as reasonably achievable”). The practical optimization, however, remains challenging. It is well known that reducing the radiation dose increases the quantum noise, which could compromise the image quality. In order to conduct studies about dose reduction in mammography, it would be necessary to acquire repeated clinical images, from the same patient, with different dose levels. However, such practice would be unethical due to radiation related risks. One solution is to simulate the effects of dose reduction in clinical images. This work proposes a new method, based on the Anscombe transformation, which simulates dose reduction in digital mammography by inserting quantum noise into clinical mammograms acquired with the standard radiation dose. Thus, it is possible to simulate different levels of radiation doses without exposing the patient to new levels of radiation. Results showed that the achieved quality of simulated images generated with our method is the same as when using other methods found in the literature, with the novelty of using the Anscombe transformation for converting signal-independent Gaussian noise into signal-dependent quantum noise.

Citation Download Citation

Lucas R. Borges, Helder C. R. de Oliveira, Polyana F. Nunes, and Marcelo A. C. Vieira "Method for inserting noise in digital mammography to simulate reduction in radiation dose", Proc. SPIE 9412, Medical Imaging 2015: Physics of Medical Imaging, 94125J (18 March 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2082257

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available