Dual-Energy Subtraction X-Ray Digital Tomosynthesis: Basic Physical Evaluation

The present study was performed to determine the potential of applying dual-energy subtraction (DES) digital tomo-synthesis to basic physical evaluations. Volumetric X-ray DES digital tomosysnthesis was used to obtain an image of a detectability phantom (an artificial lesion). The image quality of DES digital tomosynthesis was compared to that of DES radiography. The purpose of this study was to determine enhanced visibility quantified in terms of the contrast- to-noise ratio, figure-of-merit, and root-mean-square error. In the in-focus plane, the image quality is better by DES digital tomosynthesis than by DES radiography. The potential usefulness of DES digital tomosynthesis for evaluating a detectability phantom was demonstrated. Further studies are required to determine the ability of DES digital tomosyn-thesis to quantify the spatial relationships between the artificial lesion components of these devices, as well as to iden- tify lesions with diagnostic consequences.