Radiography is a primary technique for detection of breast cancer. Xeromammography is an important radiological technology because of its ability to highlight microcalcifications, a primary indication of the presence of cancer. This ability is due to the inherent edge enhancement of xerography. Until recently, xeromammography provided images with the lowest patient dose. Unfortunately, advances in xeromammography have not kept pace with film technology. Materials advances in phosphor screens and film have resulted in """"""""low dose"""""""" mammography systems which reduce the dose to about half that received in xeromammography. The sensitivity of the xerographic technique is limited by the selenium films used to detect the X-rays. If a more sensitive material were available for making the photoconductive layer, this important technology could once again provide images with low patient dose. Based on recent research at RMD, we believe the technology now exists to improve the sensitivity of xeromammography systems. This would result in high quality images with substantial reduction of patient dose compared to either selenium xeromammography or low dose film systems. The goal of the proposed effort is to examine the deposition of films, of TIBr, characterize their physical and electrical properties, and determine their feasibility for use in xeroradiography.
