A system for dual modality breast imaging

Scintimammography is a promising nuclear imaging modality currently under evaluation as a complementary diagnostic tool for X-ray mammography. However, current scintimammography imaging protocols, using large, conventional Anger cameras and prone patient positioning, result in low sensitivity for small lesions, and do not provide a means for direct correlation between structures in the scintigram and in the mammogram. The authors are developing a dedicated breast imaging system that provides both digital X-ray transmission and gamma emission images with the breast in a consistent configuration under mild compression. The current system uses a 20 cm/spl times/30 cm digital mammography detector and a 10 cm/spl times/10 cm gamma detector. The inactive peripheries of each detector about 7 mm wide on the chest wall edge. The resulting fused image contains correlated functional and structural information, and overcomes many of the problems associated with conventional prone scintimammography. The authors present system performance characteristics and examples of dual modality breast images.