A laser-driven undulator x-ray source: simulation of image formation and dose deposition in mammography

Bernhard Müller; Helmut Schlattl; Florian Grüner; Christoph Hoeschen

doi:10.1117/12.877851

15 March 2011 A laser-driven undulator x-ray source: simulation of image formation and dose deposition in mammography

Bernhard Müller, Helmut Schlattl, Florian Grüner, Christoph Hoeschen

Proceedings Volume 7961, Medical Imaging 2011: Physics of Medical Imaging; 796106 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.877851
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2011, Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), Florida, United States

Abstract

Since overcoming some of the inherent limitations of x-ray tubes becomes increasingly harder, it is important to consider new ways of x-ray generation and to study their applications in the field of medical imaging. In the present work we investigate a novel table-top-sized x-ray source, developed in a joint project within the Cluster of Excellence "Munich Center for Advanced Photonics". It uses laser-accelerated electrons emitting x-ray radiation in a short period undulator. This source has the potential to deliver tunable x-rays with a very narrow spectral bandwidth. The main purpose of this contribution is to investigate the performance of this source in the field of mammography and to compare it to that of conventional x-ray tubes. We simulated the whole imaging process from the electron beam dynamics through the generation of the synchrotron radiation in the undulator up to the x-ray-matter interaction and detection in the mammographic setting. A Monte Carlo simulation of the absorption and scattering processes based on the Geant4 software toolkit has been developed that uses a high-resolution voxel phantom of the female breast for the accurate simulation of mammography. We present simulated mammograms generated by using quasi-monochromatic undulator radiation and by using the polychromatic spectrum of a conventional x-ray tube.

Citation Download Citation

Bernhard Müller, Helmut Schlattl, Florian Grüner, and Christoph Hoeschen "A laser-driven undulator x-ray source: simulation of image formation and dose deposition in mammography", Proc. SPIE 7961, Medical Imaging 2011: Physics of Medical Imaging, 796106 (15 March 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.877851

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