Tomosynthesis - The revival of an imaging tool for musculoskeletal applications

Purpose The digital x-ray tomosynthesis recently emerged as a new technique for breast imaging. This method is an innovative refinement of conventional geometric tomography delivering cross sectional images with high spatial resolution. Digital x-ray tomosynthesis provides cross sectional information by reconstructing a stack of slices from a number of low-dose radiographs acquired over a limited angular range. The detection and accurate localisation of masses and microcalcifications in breast tissue shows the impact of tomosynthesis in clinical examinations e.g. breast cancer screening. In clinical routine conventional x-ray and HRCT are the standard image acquisition methods to evaluate the bone lesions. However, high resolution cross sectional tomosynthesis images may provide additional, clinically relevant information. Our study aimed to assess the potential of tomosynthesis in skeletal applications. To analyse the potential of tomosynthesis images were compared to HRCT and conventional skeletal radiography.