Visibility of tumor-like details in inline phase contrast mammography using quasimonochromatic X-ray sources

A new generation of quasimonochromatic high-flux X-ray sources, based on the X-ray radiation produced through Compton scattering between an electron beam and a laser beam, is under development. One of the possible applications of this source is inline phase contrast mammography, based on the observation of the edge-enhancement effect that can be observed at the border of structures inside the breast in images produced using a partially or totally coherent X-ray beam. In this work we present the results of a set of simulations of inline phase contrast mammography using typical inverse Compton scattering sources parameters. The simulated sample was a tumour-like mass having spherical shape, diameter between 200 μm and 5 mm, placed inside a breast-like matrix, 4 cm thick, and a standard composition of 50% glandular tissue and 50% adipose tissue. We discuss the minimum requirements for mammography using inverse Compton scattering sources and we discuss how the working parameters of the experimental setup (focal spot size, source–object distance, object–detector distance, detector point spread function, mean energy, energy bandwidth) affect the image quality, and specifically the edge-enhancement visibility. In particular, we show that the energy bandwidth does not significantly affect the visibility up to several keV. On the other hand, the edge-enhancement visibility depends substantially on other parameters such as source–object distance and detector point spread function.