TUESDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- A breast computed tomography (CT) scanner that provides images at radiation-dose levels comparable to two-view mammography and a SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography)-CT system that doesn't use breast compression were discussed at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine meeting held July 27-31 in Houston.
John M. Boone, Ph.D., of the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento presented data on the CT scanner, which has been used to scan at least 150 patients since 2004. Creating high-quality images at a mean glandular dose for each woman equal to that of two-view mammography, this technology may be useful for screening, diagnostic studies, and robotically controlled biopsy, according to the author.
In another presentation, Priti Madhav of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and colleagues discussed how the SPECT-CT system acquires three-dimensional data while the patient lies prone on a customized bed. The CT subsystem uses a quasi-monochromatic, cone-beam X-ray source, allowing for a lower radiation dose.
"Implementation of the world's first dedicated SPECT-CT system promises greatly improved visualization of the 3D breast volume. Complementary information from functional and anatomical imaging can guide lesion localization for subsequent analysis," the authors of the latter presentation write.
A co-author on the second presentation is listed as an inventor on the patent for the technology.
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