Digital 3D tomosynthesis in the diagnosis and screening of breast cancer

Breast cancer mortality and morbidity are significantly reduced with the introduction of the mammography screening program. From the point of view of complete recovery, there is an extremely high demand for early detection. Digital 3D tomosynthesis is a complementary modality to digital mammography (full-field digital mammography - FFDM), which has been accepted by the FDA since 2011, and is well suited for the diagnosis of breast diseases and breast screening. Basic principle of digital 3D tomosynthesis: during the examination, an x-ray tube moving in a given circular arc takes 10-15 overlapping digital images of the breast - with a small dose of radiation - in a short time. From the data set obtained in this way, thin-slice layer images (3D tomosynthesis) and reconstructed, so-called synthetic 2D images - similar to the traditional mammographic image - are also produced. In addition to the advantages (higher cancer detection rate, more accurate assessment of abnormal patterns, structural distortion, asymmetric density, reduction of the number of unnecessary biopsy, decreasing recall rate in screening), knowing the dilemmas related to the disadvantages ( e.g., radiation exposure, need for larger storage space) is also important.