Análise de materiais e desenvolvimento de objeto simulador mamográfico

Abstract

The incidence of breast cancer is the highest in women compared to other types of cancer in the world and its early detection is extremely important for treatment in the early stages of the disease, which leads to a reduction in mortality from the disease. Mammography is the most appropriate imaging technique for its detection. On the other hand, in order to make it possible to visualize these structures in the image, it is necessary to develop quality control for mammographs using objects that simulate breast tissue. The aim of this work is to characterize materials for the development of a breast phantom that performs the functions of quality control and simulation of the appearance of the real breast in an image. The phantom, called Cleopatra, was made from plaster casts, and the test structures, for quality control, were nodules, simulated in PLA, microcalcifications, simulated with PVC shavings, fibers, simulated with nylon threads and a contrast ladder, simulated with aluminum. For the real breast part, fiberglass and PVC sheets were used to simulate fibroglandular tissue, PLA to simulate circumscribed and spiculated nodules and PVC shavings to simulate microcalcifications. All the Cleopatra test structures were inserted in beeswax to simulate adipose tissue. The test structures inserted in the quality control showed good detectability, the part designated for real breast was validated with the 14 Haralick texture descriptors. After analysis and comparison with phantoms recommended by the national standard, Cleopatra was validated for quality control and image acquisition for the image database.