Cone-Beam CT for Breast Specimens in Surgery: The Phantom Study

During breast surgery, an immediate verification method of the negative resection margin in a breast cancer specimen is needed. Conventionally, a mammogram of a specimen has been used; however, it is in 2D and the resection margin of abnormal lesion and mass can be suspicious. The aim of this paper is to propose the cone-beam CT machine specifically for breast specimens to verify the tumor free margin during breast surgery and evaluate its performance. All setting parameters were designed not only to detect lesion inside breast specimens, but also to perform fast acquisition and 3D reconstruction. Image quality assessment was evaluated using standard and simulated phantoms. The spatial resolution was found at 2.8 line pair per mm, while the cupping artifacts and noise were about 1.2% and 2.9%, respectively. Moreover, calcium carbonate in a resin phantom representing microcalcification in a breast specimen can be detected with this machine. Thus, the proposed CBCT scanner showed high potential to detect microcalcification within breast specimens during surgery.