  Mammography is currently the primary imaging modality for breast cancer
screening and plays an important role in cancer diagnostics. A standard
mammographic image acquisition always includes the compression of the breast
prior x-ray exposure. The breast is compressed between two plates (the image
receptor and the compression paddle) until a nearly uniform breast thickness is
obtained. The breast flattening improves diagnostic image quality 1 and reduces
the absorbed dose 2. However, this technique can also be a source of discomfort
and might deter some women from attending breast screening by mammography 3,4.
Therefore, the characterization of the pain perceived during breast compression
is of potential interest to compare different compression approaches. The aim
of this work is to develop simulation tools enabling the characterization of
existing breast compression techniques in terms of patient comfort, dose
delivered to the patient and resulting image quality. A 3D biomechanical model
of the breast was developed providing physics-based predictions of tissue
motion and internal stress and strain intensity. The internal stress and strain
intensity are assumed to be directly correlated with the patient discomfort.
The resulting compressed breast model is integrated in an image simulation
framework to assess both image quality and average glandular dose. We present
the results of compression simulations on two breast geometries, under
different compression paddles (flex or rigid).

Medical Physics