Development of mammographic syntetic images using Monte Carlo techniques

• Κύριος συγγραφέας: Μπάκα, Ειρήνη
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Παναγιωτάκης, Γεώργιος
• Μορφή: Thesis
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2011
• Θέματα: Mammography; Monte Carlo method; Breast cancer; Μαστογραφία; Μέθοδος Monte Carlo; Καρκίνος μαστού; 618.190 757 2

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer worldwide. The x-ray mammography an important imaging technique for detection can succeed balance between low breast dose and high image quality with the achievement of high sensitivity and specificity. Special requirements lead to the continuing effort to optimize the mammographic technique. Different studies target in improvement of quality image and as a consequence increase the diagnostic accuracy of pathological findings. In this study Monte Carlo methods play a key role as it offers a safe, reliable, inexpensive and flexible tool for complicated studies in medical radiation physics. It gives the solution to a major limitation, the lack of quantitative objective measures of the characteristics of pathological findings inside the environment of a real mammographic image. Different pathological findings are simulated in this study with the help of Monte Carlo techniques having the same density with the area of a clinical mammogram where they are superimposed, creating the synthetic images. The whole followed procedure is presented. Finally a number of result images is created containing different types and sizes of pathological findings reaching the conclusion that calcifications can be very well simulated up to 200μm ,lesions as masses can be realistic up to 0.5cm and especially when the appropriate size is embedded in the suitable heterogeneous area. Finally, masses of air was a difficult task since turned to be difficult to simulate a realistic cyst. The simulation procedure and created synthetic images can be evaluated by experts and gives the opportunity as a future work for a large database to be created. Untrained scientists can take advantage of this procedure or evaluating the detactibility of CAD systems.