ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide the basic principles and fundamental physics of X-ray breast imaging. One of the major challenges in X-ray imaging is to reveal microstructure information from low contrast resolution images. The contrast between different tissues in an X-ray image depends on the mechanisms through which X-ray photons interact with the tissues. The function of a detector or image receptor is to record the information carried by the X-ray profiles transmitted through the breast. In mammography, the image receptors must be uniquely designed to provide adequate spatial resolution, detector sensitivity, and image contrast at reasonably low radiation dose, which is crucial in the detection of microcalcification and other abnormalities in early breast cancer. The modulation transfer function describes how well the imaging system or the detector transfers the contrast of sinusoidal patterns from the incident X-ray to the output.
