Phantom study for the detection of simulated lesions in five different digital and one conventional mammography system

Purpose: Experimental phantom study for the detection of simulated lesions with five different digital and one conventional screen-film mammography system. Materials and Methods: Three radiographs were obtained at various configurations of the phantom with one conventional screen-film system (Mammomat 3000 N) (Siemens), five digital systems (high resolution computed radiography system [Fuji/Siemens], one a-Si detector [GE Medical Systems], two a-Se detectors [Siemens; Hologic / Lorad] and one CCD detector [Fischer Imaging]), applying the same exposure parameters. The Wisconsin Mammographic Random Phantom, Model 152 A, was used. Five investigators with different experience in mammography (3 months to more than 4 years) evaluated the 18 randomly selected radiographs. Results: No significant differences were found in the detection rate of simulated breast lesions for conventional screen-film mammography (84.9%), high resolution computed radiography (86.7%) and digital mammography with an a-Si detector (89.8%). Highly significantly better results (p<0.001) were found with the two a-Se systems (97.3%) and the CCD system (100%). Conclusion: Conventional screen-film mammography can be replaced by high resolution computed radiography and digital mammography with a-Si-, a-Se- and CCD-detectors. This has to be confirmed in further clinical studies.