50 % easier to find cancer tumours
New x-ray technology makes it 50% easier to find cancer tumours in women’s breasts. Another possibility with the technology is a reduction of the radiation by 20%. This is according to new research from KTH.
The thesis underlying the new mammography technique is called “Spectral Mammography with X-ray Optics and a Photon-Counting Detector” and will be defended at a disputation at KTH on 18 December.
The doctoral student Erik Fredenberg is behind the work at the Faculty of Medical Imaging at KTH. He claims that it is possible to reduce the radiation and improve image quality and that the two parameters are very closely linked.
“Historically, pieces of metal have been used to remove superfluous radiation which was not used for imaging. Instead I have used optics, so-called x-ray lenses, says Erik Fredenberg.
He adds that it is not entirely easy to refract x-rays, that explains why lots of lined-up lenses have been used. They are chromatic and are able to filter out unwanted radiation.
In the dissertation, Erik Fredenberg also takes up the work he has done with the use of colour imaging instead of greyscale x-ray images, as used previously. This also represents an increase in efficiency with regard to the x-ray examinations.
“Colour imaging makes it easier to see the difference between different types of tissue, which appears to apply irrespective of whether iodide is used or not. This makes it easier to see tumours,” Erik Fredenberg says.
The major advantage of colour imaging is that it does not have to be more expensive to manufacture than traditional mammography equipment and that the colour image comes as a bonus compared to the usual black-and-white image without extra exposures.
For more information, contact Erik Fredenberg at fberg@kth.se or ring 0733 - 524 501.
Peter Larsson