Introduction: Mammography is a crucial X-ray imaging method for the early detection and analysis of changes in the breasts. Beam filtering is a key procedure where the energy spectrum is manipulated using different filters to reduce the absorbed dose while improving the quality of the X-ray image. The spectrum of X-ray photons used in mammography consists of low energies, where the most commonly used filtration is done by using rhodium and molybdenum filters. The received dose is unevenly distributed in the glandular tissue, so the dose to the breast is assessed using the average glandular dose. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis was to determine how different combinations of anode/filter affect the average glandular dose received by the patient during mammographic examination. Methods: In this thesis, we used a descriptive method with a systematic literature review. The articles used in the literature review were searched in various international databases, such as the Digital Library of Slovenia, the University of Ljubljana Repository, Cobbis, Science Direct, Pub Med and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, taking into account inclusion and exclusion criteria and keywords. Results: We presented the findings of the articles used in the literature review. We searched the international databases such as Science Direct, ReasearchGate, IOPscience and the National Institutes of Health, where we got a total of 1322 hits, which we reviewed, removed duplicates and articles that did not meet the exclusion and inclusion criteria, resulting in 12 articles that were included in the study. The articles analyse which anode/filter combination contributes to the lowest dose to the patient. Discussion and conclusion: The analysis obtained on the impact of different anode/filter combinations in mammography on the dose is key to understanding the optimisation of the imaging procedure. Rhodium and tungsten anodes using different filters contribute the most to reducing the dose to the breast while maintaining image quality. Most studies have shown that the Rh/Rh combination results in a lower mean glandular dose compared to Mo/Mo or Mo/Rh, whereas when comparing W/Rh and W/Ag combinations, the results were better with W/Rh. The articles also point out that the Mo/Mo combination is more suitable for thinner breasts, while the Rh/Rh, W/Rh and W/Ag combinations are more suitable for denser and more abundant breasts.
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