Experimental Evaluation of Physical Breast Phantoms for 2D and 3D Breast X-Ray Imaging Techniques

Anthropomorphic phantoms are models of real or virtual parts of the body, organ or tissue, represented by tissue-equivalent materials that aim to provide a realistic and accurate representation of their anatomy and properties. The aim of this study is to evaluate experimentally the suitability of 3D printed materials in the production of both, physical breast phantoms and abnormalities, to be used in optimization tasks in breast imaging. For this purpose, we designed three computational breast models, composed of skin, duct tree, adipose compartments and lesions. Subsequently, they were printed by using two 3D printing technologies and different printing materials, which were previously studied in details. The physical phantoms were scanned at a mammography machine, which allows 2D and 3D mammography (tomosynthesis) modes. The images were evaluated from an experienced radiologist. The results showed that tomosynthesis images are characterized with better realism compared to 2D mammography images. Next step is improvement in the printing quality of tumour formations as well as quantitative evaluation of the obtained results.