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MO‐D‐141‐11: Registration of Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging and X‐Ray Mammography Through a Biomechanical Model Based On Clinical Data and a Finite Element Method
Author(s) -
Ribes S,
Gonneau E,
Didierlaurent D,
Decoster N,
Feillel V,
Courbon F,
Caselles O
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.4815258
Subject(s) - hyperelastic material , mammography , imaging phantom , breast mri , magnetic resonance imaging , finite element method , breast cancer , voxel , breast imaging , deformation (meteorology) , computer science , materials science , biomedical engineering , artificial intelligence , nuclear medicine , physics , radiology , medicine , cancer , composite material , thermodynamics
Purpose: Overcoming the drawbacks of x‐ray mammography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by fusing the information in order to assist clinicians in the task of early detection of breast cancer. Methods: A detailed 3D computer‐generated breast phantom based on empirical data extracted from breast MRI was constructed for each patient. To achieve this goal, MRI data were classified into the different components of breast tissues (glandular, adipose, skin and eventually tumor) using a semi‐automated segmentation algorithm based on voxel intensity. Then, a geometrical model of the breast was constructed through the isosurfaces of this segmented volume. In order to perform a study on breast deformation using the finite element method, the geometrical model was automatically meshed into tetrahedral elements and material properties were assigned to the different kinds of breast tissues. To represent the large deformation of breast during a mammography exam, a neo‐Hookean hyperelastic model was chosen to describe the constitutive relations of breast tissues, and the compression was simulated using a stiff plate model. After compressing the phantom, mammograms were simulated based on the deformed configuration. During this step, a parametric optimization of the model was conducted (mesh refinement, mechanical properties and friction coefficient). Results: Small variations of the model parameters strongly influence the deformation and modify significantly the resultant simulated images. During the optimization process, both a better conservation of details and a convergence toward a distribution of components were observed for finer meshes, whereas the friction coefficient affects mostly the skin deformation. Conclusion: The phantom developed in this study allows the modeling of large deformations through the use of the finite element method, and also allows the simulation of mammographic images containing high‐resolution details. Moreover, this phantom combines flexibility and realism, and can be used for multimodality imaging research but also for clinical performance optimization.