Experimental test of a new technique of background suppression in digital mammography

A multiple-exposure technique in digital mammography has been developed to suppress the physical background in the image due to Compton scattering in the body. A pair of X-ray masks, shaped in a projective geometry and positioned upstream and downstream the patient, are coupled mechanically and moved in four steps along a square pattern in order to irradiate the full area in four consecutive short exposures. A proof-of-principle apparatus is under test with a breast phantom and a standard mammographic X-ray unit. Results are reported.