H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Inc.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Erin E Fowler

John J Heine

Thomas A Sellers

Celine M Vachon

Breast density is a significant breast cancer risk factor measured from mammograms. Disclosed is a methodology for converting continuous measurements of breast density and calibrated mammograms into a four-state ordinal variable approximating the BI-RADS ratings. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to a calibration system for a specific full field digital mammography (FFDM) technology. The calibration adjusts for the x-ray acquisition technique differences across mammograms resulting in standardized images. The approach produced various calibrated and validated measures of breast density, one of which assesses variation in the mammogram referred to as Vc (i.e. variation measured from calibrated mammograms). The variation in raw mammograms [i.e. Vr] is a valid breast density risk factor in both FFDM in digitized film mammograms.

Breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) tissue composition

An automated percentage of breast density measure (PDa) that analyzes signal dependent noise (SDN) based on a wavelet expansion using full field digital mammography (FFDM). A matched case-control dataset is used with images acquired from a specific direct x-ray capture FFDM system. PDa is applied to the raw and clinical display representation images. Transforming (pixel mapping) of the raw image to another representation (raw-transformed) is performed using differential evolution optimization and investigated the influence of lowering the native spatial resolution of the image by a one-half. When controlling for body mass index, the quartile specific ORs for the associations of PDa with breast cancer varied with representation and resolution. PDa is a valid automated breast density measurement for a specific FFDM technology and compares well against PD (operator-assisted or the standard) when applied to either the raw-transformed or clinical display images from this FFDM technology.

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Tampa, FL, United States of America

Erin E Fowler