Comparison of mammography radiation dose values obtained from direct incident air kerma measurements with values from measured X-ray spectral data.

The application of X-rays and ionising radiations for diagnostic radiology requires that the procedure is justified and optimised and that the exposure to the patient is kept as low as possible, without compromising image information. X-ray mammography is considered to be the most sensitive technique currently available for early detection of breast cancer. The magnitude of the absorbed radiation dose to the breast from mammography X-ray beams forms an important part of the quality control of the mammographic examination since it gives an indication of the performance of the mammographic imaging system as well as an estimated risk to the patient. In this work mean glandular dose (MGD) values were obtained at various tube potentials and tube loadings (TL) using direct measurements of the incident air kerma (ESAK) at the surface of a standard breast phantom and also from spectral measurements acquired with a solid-state detector. Comparisons of the MGD values thus derived are presented and the relationship between MGD, phantom thickness, image quality and tube operating parameters is discussed.