Mammography is an x-ray examination designed to detect breast cancer at an early stage. Germany also has such a screening program. During a mammography, different breast tissue absorbs x-rays to a differing degree. The result is a gray-scale image on a detector in which carcinomas can be identified. The problem is that the x-ray radiation is also scattered by structures in the breast, which deflect them and thus distort - and reduce the quality of - the resulting image. Up until now, ensuring good image quality required placing an anti-scatter grid in front of the detector to block the skewed x-rays. However, because x-ray sources produce a light cone rather than parallel light, part of the primary radiation containing the information needed for the images also hits the grid at an angle and is blocked as well. This loss of information needs to be compensated for by a higher dose of radiation. 

The new technology employed in the Mammomat Inspiration Prime Edition unit eliminates the need for the anti-scatter grid and ensures that all primary radiation strikes the direct-digital detector. Depending on the size of the patient's breast, this technique can reduce radiation exposure by as much as 30 percent. The unit also uses a new and unique algorithm that recognizes the radiation scattering pattern and filters it out of the image calculations, thereby ensuring a consistently high level of image quality.

Reference Number: IN 2013.05.2e