STUDY OF MAMMOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE AND DETAIL VISIBILITY USING 3 SYSTEMS - XEROX-125, MIN-R, AND XONICS XERG

A breast phantom of novel design has been used to measure visibility of simulated calcific and soft-tissue fibrillar details in mammography, as well as to determine the roentgen exposure vs. depth. Exposure data were combined with a model of the breast as compressed during mammography to compute the mean exposure to the ductal parenchyma (MDE). Three different imaging systems were compared over a wide range of x-ray beam energies and breast characteristics. 'Dosage' criteria other than the MDE are discussed.