Binary implementation of fractal Perlin noise to simulate fibroglandular breast tissue

Software breast phantoms are important in many applications within the field of breast imaging and mammography. This paper describes an improved method of using a previously employed in-house fractal Perlin noise algorithm to create binary software breast phantoms. The Perlin Noise algorithm creates smoothly varying structures of a frequency with a set band limit. By combining a range of frequencies (octaves) of noise, more complex structures are generated. Previously, visually realistic appearances were achieved with continuous noise values, but these do not adequately represent the breast as radiologically consisting of two types of tissue - fibroglandular and adipose. A binary implementation with a similarly realistic appearance would therefore be preferable. A library of noise volumes with continuous values between 0 and 1 were generated. A range of threshold values, also between 0 and 1, were applied to these noise volumes, creating binary volumes of different appearance, with high values resulting in a fine network of strands, and low values in nebulous clusters of tissue. These building blocks were then combined into composite volumes and a new threshold applied to make them binary. This created visually complex binary volumes with a visually more realistic appearance than earlier implementations of the algorithm. By using different combinations of threshold values, a library of pre-generated building blocks can be used to create an arbitrary number of software breast tissue volumes with desired appearance and density.