Volumetric breast density estimation from Full-Field Digital Mammograms: A validation study

A. Gubern-Mérida, M. Kallenberg, B. Platel, R. Mann, R. Marti and N. Karssemeijer

PLoS One 2014;9(1):e85952.

DOI PMID Cited by ~160

Objectives

To objectively evaluate automatic volumetric breast density assessment in Full-Field Digital Mammograms (FFDM) using measurements obtained from breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Material and Methods

A commercially available method for volumetric breast density estimation on FFDM is evaluated by comparing volume estimates obtained from 186 FFDM exams including mediolateral oblique (MLO) and cranial-caudal (CC) views to objective reference standard measurements obtained from MRI.

Results

Volumetric measurements obtained from FFDM show high correlation with MRI data. PearsonAC/a,!a,,C/s correlation coefficients of 0.93, 0.97 and 0.85 were obtained for volumetric breast density, breast volume and fibroglandular tissue volume, respectively.

Conclusions

Accurate volumetric breast density assessment is feasible in Full-Field Digital Mammograms and has potential to be used in objective breast cancer risk models and personalized screening.