Abstract Evaluation of the performance of mammographic equipment requires the imaging and interpretation of test objects or phantoms and risk assessment. This study evaluated, using a spectrometry technique, the linear attenuation coefficients determined from transmitted intensity for commercially available tissue-equivalent phantoms for mammography, namely the Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS) phantom with different glandularity–adipose contents and PMMA. The measurements were performed using X-ray beams produced by Mo/Mo, Mo/Rh, and W/Rh target/filter combinations. The results are presented for the characteristic X-ray photopeaks (Mo Kα 1 at 17.48 keV and Mo Kα 2 at 19.61 keV). Spectrometry measurements were carried out using an Amptek XR-100T Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) detector, and the spectra were corrected using MCNP6 simulations. This work demonstrates the adequacy of the results obtained for Mo Kα 1 at 17.48 keV when compared with publications that applied different methods of analysis. In addition, it presents the evaluation of the attenuation coefficient for Mo Kα 2 at 19.61 keV for the CIRS phantom and its comparison with PMMA results.
Squair et al. (Mon,) studied this question.