Digital breast tomosynthesis: A technological review

According to American Cancer Society´s most recent studies, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women today and a serious threat worldwide. Mammography, whether screen-film or digital, remains the best method to detect early breast cancer. Mammography imaging relies on the projection of a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional image in which lesions can be easily obscured and undetected. Digital breast tomosynthesis is a new technology which reconstructs a three-dimensional volume from a series of two-dimensional projection-view images taken over a limited arc angle. Although the technology has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, digital breast tomosynthesis has great potential. With digital breast tomosynthesis, physicians can get better insight of the breast structure without the superimposition of the other tissues, reduce number of biopsies, reduce recalls, reduce dose etc. The paper presents an overview of this promising technology.