微鈣化是乳腺癌的早期指標之一，在早期階段偵測決定性的作用是在減少乳腺癌死亡率。這項研究的目的是 使用雙能量數字乳腺攝影(DEDM)技術，改善微鈣化偵測性。用幾塊均勻和乳房相等的塑膠，由三種不同組織密度 來模擬不同乳房厚度從3-7cm。用額外的一塊板子，有五種不同大小的碳酸鈣粒集群來模擬微鈣化，直徑從 0.16-0.19mm。在FROC 和曲線下面的面積(AZ)評估用DEDM 和SEDM 在乳房攝影偵測微鈣化不同。 研究結果顯示用DEDM 方式可以成功的觀察到微鈣化，如果乳房厚度是小於5cm，微鈣化小於0.2mm。用 DEDM 平均每張片子的假陽性平均數為0.0198(AZ=0.956±0.027)，使用SEDM 平均每張片子的假陽性平均數為 0.292(AZ=0.681±0.235)。有效地使用DEDM 比以往SEDM 可以更準確有效的對於早期乳腺癌的微鈣化診斷。

As microcalcifications are one of the earliest indicators of breast cancer, their detection at an early stage plays a decisive role in reducing breast cancer mortality. The purpose of this study is to improve microcalcification detectability using a dual-energy digital mammographic (DEDM) technique. Slabs of uniform breast-equivalent plastic with three different tissue densities were used to mimic various breast thicknesses from 3 to 7 cm. An additional plate with five different sizes of pre-sifted CaCO3 grain clusters was used to simulate microcalcifications with diameters from 0.16 to 0.39 mm. Free-response receiver operating characteristics (FROC) and area under curve (Az) value were employed to evaluate detecting sensitivity of microcalcifications using the DEDM compared to conventional single-energy digital mammography (SEDM). Using the DEDM technique, microcalcifications were successfully imaged using a breast thickness less than 5 cm when microcalcifications were smaller than 0.2mm. The average number of false-positive per image (at a 90% true-positive fraction) was 0.0198 (Az = 0.956±0.027) using DEDM compared to 0.292 (Az = 0.681±0.235) using SEDM. Microcalcifications could be more accurately and efficiently detected using the DEDM compared to the conventional SEDM, bringing reliable and promising applications on early computer aided diagnosis of breast cancer.