This study's objective is to compare image quality in 3-D molecular breast imaging tomosynthesis (MBIT) with that in planar molecular breast imaging (MBI) over a range of breast radioactivity concentrations. Using gelatin and point source phantoms lesion contrast, lesion signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and spatial resolution were compared for a range of lesion sizes and depths. For both MBI and MBIT, lesion contrast is essentially constant with changing activity while SNR decreases by a factor of 1.5 - 2 between 100% and 25% activity levels. For nearly all lesion sizes and locations contrast and SNR are significantly higher for MBIT than MBI, potentially permitting greater reductions in injected dose. Spatial resolution in MBI is dependent on lesion depth but independent of lesion location with MBIT. Reconstructed MBIT spatial resolution is substantially better than that in the projection images, suggesting future use of higher sensitivity collimators for even further reductions in injected activity.
The spatial frequency dependent detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of a CsI-CMOS x-ray detector was measured in two operating modes: a high dynamic range (HDR) mode and a high sensitivity (HS) mode. DQE calculations were performed using the IEC-62220-1-2 Standard. For detector entrance air kerma values between ~7 µGy and 60 µGy the DQE is similar in either HDR mode or HS mode, with a value of ~0.7 at low frequency and ~ 0.15 - 0.20 at the Nyquist frequency fN = 6.7 mm-1. In HDR mode the DQE remains virtually constant for operation with Ka values between ~7 µGy and 119 µGy but decreases for Ka levels below ~ 7 µGy. In HS mode the DQE is approximately constant over the full range of entrance air kerma tested between 1.7 µGy and 60 µGy but kerma values above ~75 µGy produce hard saturation. Quantum limited operation in HS mode for entrance kerma as small as 1.7 µGy makes it possible to use a large number of low dose views to improve angular sampling and decrease acquisition time.