An energy sensitive cassette for dual-energy mammography.

A cassette for simultaneously acquiring dual-energy mammographic images is proposed and studied utilizing a theoretical noise analysis model. The cassette consists of a sandwich of two storage phosphor plates separated by a copper filter. The front, low atomic number, plate was assumed to be comprised of SrFBr and the rear, high atomic number, plate of commercially available BaFBr (98 mg/cm2 coating weight). Assuming a constant x-ray tube voltage of 50 kVp and a typical breast thickness, the theoretical model yielded a front SrFBr phosphor coating weight of approximately 21 mg/cm2. The study indicates that a relatively large separation in the average of x-ray photon energies absorbed in the two plates can be obtained. It also indicates that both a high-quality conventional (single energy) digital image and a tissue canceled digital image (i.e., a calcium image) can be obtained at dose levels comparable to those currently employed. The latter image could potentially improve the early detection of cancerous microcalcifications and also lends itself to computer aided diagnosis.