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The purpose of this work is to provide an evaluation of the mean glandular dose (MGD) for breast computed tomography (CT) with synchrotron radiation in an axial scanning configuration with a partial or total organ volume irradiation, for the in vivo program of breast CT ongoing at the ELETTRA facility (Trieste, Italy). A Geant4 Monte Carlo code was implemented, simulating the photon irradiation from a synchrotron radiation source in the energetic range from 8 to 50 keV with 1 keV intervals, to evaluate the MGD. The code was validated with literature data, in terms of mammographic normalized glandular dose coefficients (DgN) and with ad hoc experimental data, in terms of computed tomography dose index (CTDI). Simulated cylindrical phantoms of different sizes (diameter at phantom base 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16 cm, axial length 1.5 times the radius) and glandular fraction by weight (0%, 14.3%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) were implemented into the code. The validation of the code shows an excellent agreement both with previously published work and in terms of DgN and CDTI measurements. The implemented simulations show a dependence of the glandular dose estimate on the vertical dimension of the irradiated zone when a partial organ irradiation was implemented. Specific normalized coefficients for calculating the MGD to the whole breast or to the single irradiated slice were reported.

Dual-energy radiography is an effective technique that allows removal of contrast between pairs of materials in order to display details of interest on a uniform background. In mammographic images the detection of small nodules is often impeded by obscuring background 'clutter' resulting from the contrast between normal tissues (glandular and adipose) in their neighbourhood. We consider whether it could be possible to apply dual-energy radiography to the breast, which is hypothetically principally composed of three tissues, glandular, adipose and cancerous, in order to remove the contrast due to the distribution of normal tissues and, as a consequence, to enhance the intrinsic contrast of the pathology. The purpose of this work is to test the limitations of dual-energy radiography on a three-component phantom under optimum conditions of the source and detector. We use a synchrotron monochromatic beam, produced at the ELETTRA synchrotron facility (Trieste, Italy), and an imaging plate detector, in order to acquire two images at low and high energies of a phantom composed of polyethylene, plexiglas and water. For evaluation of the potential of this procedure we studied the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of polyethylene and water on a set of images obtained by applying the dual-energy procedure. We found that the SNR of polyethylene and water is around the detectability threshold (according to Rose's criteria) at the contrast cancellation angles. Finally we evaluated the air entrance dose required for this double exposure, resulting in 0.81 mGy for the low-energy image and 0.01 mGy for the high-energy image. To obtain the same image quality for a standard breast of 5.5 cm, mean glandular doses of 3.50 mGy and 0.03 mGy at 17 keV and at 34 keV, respectively, are required.

The aim of this study was the experimental characterization of the PRESS technique for image-guided in vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy, as implemented on a commercially available 1.5 T NMR whole-body system. Three characterization parameters were defined and evaluated in test object measurements: selection efficiency, suppression efficiency and contamination. The characterization parameters were evaluated in different experimental conditions. The profile of signal intensity across the volume of interest (VOI) was investigated. Our results show that the characterization parameters are slightly affected by the echo time, while they are not affected by changes in the repetition time. When the VOI is co-extensive with the inner cube of the test object the suppression efficiency is good but the selection efficiency is not very high. Contamination is affected by the synthesizer frequency offset, while the selection efficiency is quite stable. Contamination effects become significant in case of 90 degrees pulse maladjustment.

This work investigates the use of XR-QA2 radiochromic films for quantitative imaging of a synchrotron radiation (SR) beam. Pieces (200 × 30 mm2) of XR-QA2 film were irradiated in a plane transverse to the beam axis, at the SYRMEP beamline at ELETTRA (Trieste), with a monochromatic beam of size 170 × 3.94 mm2 (H × V) and energy of 28, 35, 38 or 40 keV. The response was calibrated in terms of average air kerma (120 mGy), measured with a calibrated ionization chamber. Films were digitized in reflectance mode using a flatbed scanner. The 16-bit red channel was used. The netreflectance was then converted to photon fluence per unit air kerma (mm-2 mGy-1). The SR beam profile was acquired also with a scintillator (GOS) based, fiberoptic coupled CCD camera as well as with a scintillator based flat panel detector. Horizontal profiles obtained with the two modalities were compared, evaluated in a ROI of 17.71 × 0.59 mm2, across the beam centre. Once corrected for flat field, the CCD profile was scaled in order to have the same average value as the normalized profile acquired with the gafchromic film. The same procedure was followed for the beam images acquired with the flat panel detector. Horizontal and vertical line profiles acquired with the radiochromic film show an uneven 2D distribution of the beam intensity, with variations in the order of 1520% in the horizontal direction, while the statistical uncertainties evaluated for the radiochromic dose measurements were 6% at 28 keV. Larger variations up to 64% were observed in the vertical direction. The response of the radiochromic film is comparable to that of the other imaging detectors, within less than 5% variation.

A single-photon counting detector read-out system for mammography with synchrotron radiation has been developed with the aim to meet the needs of the mammographic imaging station of the SYRMEP beamline at ELETTRA. The system called PICASSO (Phase Imaging for Clinical Application with Silicon detector and Synchrotron radiatiOn) is a modular detector that implements a read-out system with MYTHEN II ASICs, an embedded Linux-based controller board and a Scientific Linux acquisition workstation. The system architecture and characteristics are herein presented. The system was tested at the SYRMEP beamline and achieved a frame rate of 33 Hz for 8448 channels at 24-bit dynamic range, and it is capable of continuously acquiring up to 2000 frames. Standard mammographic phantoms were imaged and good quality images were obtained at doses comparable with what is delivered in conventional full field mammographic systems.

X-ray propagation-based phase-contrast imaging is an attractive phase-sensitive imaging technique that has found applications in many research fields. Here, we report the investigations of a method which can quantitatively reconstruct in 3D the refractive index decrement of a quasi-homogeneous object using single-distance phase-contrast tomography data. The method extends the Born-type approximation phase-retrieval algorithm, which is based on the phase-attenuation duality (ε = δ/β, with constant ε) and suitable for homogeneous objects, to tomography and we study its application to quasi-homogeneous objects. The noise performance and the phase-attenuation duality influences of the method are also investigated. In simulation, the method allows us to quantitatively reconstruct the 3D refractive index decrement for quasi-homogeneous and weakly absorbing samples and it performs well in the practical noise situation. Furthermore, it shows a substantial contrast increase and successfully distinguishes different materials in a quasi-homogeneous and weakly absorbing sample from experimental data, even with inappropriate ε value.