Detectability of simulated masses and calcifications in mammography. Development of a phantom and a new method for determination of receiver operating characteristics.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To develop a method for receiver operating characteristics (ROC) studies in mammography. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We developed a phantom based on excised breast tissue and overlay tiles that could be arranged in an arbitrary pattern across the surface of the breast tissue. Some of the tiles contained structures simulating calcifications or masses that produced image contrast near the experimentally determined detection threshold. Based on this phantom, a methodology for performing ROC studies in mammography was developed. The ROC curves were constructed from reporting schemes filled in by radiologists at five different laboratories. The curves were determined by a novel method: a non-linear least-squares fit of a mathematical model to the data. RESULTS: There were large differences among the areas under the ROC curves obtained from the five laboratories.