ESTIMATION OF COMPRESSED BREAST THICKNESS DURING MAMMOGRAPHY

To estimate radiation dose during mammography the breast thickness mus t be known. We present a new method for estimating the thickness of a compressed breast using only the breast image as projected onto a mamm ogram, calibration data such as the mAs value and image processing tec hniques. The method proves to be of high accuracy (+/-0.2 cm for crani ocaudal mammograms) and has the advantage over other methods of allowi ng retrospective estimation of thickness.