Adding the variable angle slant hole collimator, or VASH, pictured, to an existing breast molecular imaging system allows the system to get six times better contrast of cancer lesions in the breast, potentially reducing the required radiation dose by half, according to scientists who developed it. Photo by Jefferson Lab
NEWPORT NEWS, Va., June 17 (UPI) -- A new device, when installed in existing breast imaging systems, offers 3D imaging up to six times better and more sensitive to variations in breast tissue than current imaging methods, according to scientists who developed it.
The variable angle slant hole collimator, or VASH, creates better images of the breast than traditional molecular breast imaging, while also reducing a patient's radiation exposure, and has the potential to reduce false positive diagnoses, scientists at the Jefferson Lab report.
Molecular breast imaging systems use a collimator, which is a rectangular metal plate with a grid of holes that captures gamma rays expressed by molecules in breast tumors, which are picked up using radiotracers given to patients before imaging. While these images are useful for diagnoses, the angles of the images can limit the view of tumors or irregularities in the breast.
The VASH collimator is a series of 49 quarter-millimeter-thick tungsten sheets with an array of square holes stacked together that, when slanted by two motors, allow the camera to pick up varying angles of breast tissue, allowing for better 3D images.
"Now, you can get a whole range of angles of projections of the breast without moving the breast or moving the imager," Drew Weisenberger, leader of the Jefferson Lab Radiation Detector and Imaging Group, said in a press release. "You're able to come in real close, you're able to compress the breast, and you can get a one-to-one comparison to a 3D mammogram."
The researchers presented test results with the new imaging component at the 2016 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Annual Meeting, which included imaging a plastic mockup of a breast with four beads to simulate tumors, which were marked with a radiotracer, similar to that given to women before breast imaging.
Using an existing imaging system with the VASH collimator installed instead of a standard collimator provided images with six times better contrast of tumors in the breast, suggesting the radiation dose given to patients for imaging could be cut in half.
The potential for increasing image quality and diagnosis, while decreasing risk for patients, is huge, with the scientists now looking toward other uses for the imaging component.
"These results really focus on the breast," Weisenberger said. "We hope to build on this to perhaps improve the imaging of other organs."
