Paul Schwoebel
University of New Mexico, NM·Biomedical Engineering
Breast tomosynthesis builds a 3D-like picture of the breast from X-ray images taken at several angles, which helps radiologists see structures that overlap in a flat mammogram. Image quality depends on how the X-ray source moves.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Physics
Engineering
- Topics
digital breast tomosynthesis
breast imaging
X-ray source array
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Design a two-dimensional stationary Multi-X-ray-source Array (MXA) for digital breast tomosynthesis, using modeling and experiments to choose a source layout that improves image quality within short scan times.
- Build a prototype 2D MXA breast tomosynthesis system, extending the team's earlier one-dimensional stationary X-ray source array into a clinically practical two-dimensional design.
- Evaluate the performance of the 2D MXA tomosynthesis prototype and fully characterize it, so that it is ready for clinical trials in a follow-on academic–industrial partnership.
More about the research
Moving it in two dimensions blurs away shadows from tissue above and below the slice of interest much better than moving it along a single line. This has been known since film-based systems of the 1970s. Every commercial digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) system still moves its source along one line, though. Two-dimensional mechanical motion is complex and costly, and it would lengthen scans that already take 4 to 25 seconds. Mammography aims for under 2 seconds so that patient movement does not blur the image.
Why it matters
A stationary 2D X-ray source could make breast tomosynthesis images sharper by better removing overlapping tissue shadows, while keeping scans short and the machine smaller and less expensive. This could improve breast imaging for patients and make tomosynthesis available in more clinics, bringing better breast care to more people sooner.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Wei Zhao
Stony Brook University, NY·Biomedical Engineering
Design, optimize and fabricate a prototype dual-layer flat-panel detector that records two mammograms at different x-ray energies in a single exposure, giving perfectly aligned images free of patient-motion artifacts.
Mark Anastasio
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Biomedical Engineering
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Alexey Tonyushkin
Oakland University, MI·Biomedical Engineering
Upgrade a single-sided magnetic particle imaging scanner built on a field-free line design so it can perform dynamic, multi-slice 3D imaging using mechanical rotation, height control of the field-free line and adjustable gradient strength.
The school
University of New Mexico: 27 labs on PI Pages, $355M a year on research, 182 research doctorates a year.
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