Mammography

iCAD pairs with Agfa for mammography systemSonoSite extends availability of algorithmAurora offers breast MR insurance supportContextVision lands OEM contractsAmicas picks up major IT contract

If ever a generation has been obsessed with aging, it's the baby-boom generation. Thirty years' worth of fads in exercise, diets, fashion, and personal grooming have all been directed at slowing the aging process or hiding its effects. Well, boomers can run (or jog, or bike, or yoga), but they won't be able to hide from what radiologists may soon be able to tell about the age of their insides.

New guidance from the American College of Physicians questioning the value of screening mammography of women in their forties has baffled and angered many leading mammographers.

Wavelet compression can shrink large, unwieldy digital mammography images by a factor of 100 without any loss in image quality, according to a German study presented at the European Congress of Radiology in March. This finding has tremendous potential benefits for productivity, teleradiology transmission speed, and PACS storage costs.

The radiology community has for the most part dissented from the findings of a study reported in April showing that computer-aided detection may actually do more harm than good in screening mammography. While critical of the study's design and conclusions, however, prominent radiologists agree that problems with misuse of the technology are worrisome.

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Data presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society meeting data this week show that computer-aided detection does an effective job of finding breast cancer in mammograms made using computed radiography. The results, obtained by radiologists at George Washington University, will help lay the groundwork for the adoption of CAD for this application, according to iCAD, a pioneer of this technology.

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The iCAD software package achieved high sensitivity with both computed radiography and full-field digital mammography, according to two new studies presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society meeting on Tuesday. In the same session, however, Dr. Edward Sickles warned that such positive studies may reflect optimal use and that radiologists should ensure they apply CAD software properly.

A conebeam breast CT scanner is producing exquisite 3D images and enabling visualization of tiny calcifications, but further work is needed to reduce radiation dose and improve system design.

The Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic in Rochester, NY, has used computer-aided detection for seven years. While CAD's value in the screen-film arena is well documented, its implementation can be challenging, and further research still needs to be performed in the digital world.

Does software that flags malignancies on medical images help, hinder, or make no difference to patient management? That question has dogged radiology for years. Automated detection systems are undoubtedly becoming smarter, strengthening arguments for their use.

Computer-aided diagnosis has become a part of routine clinical work for detection of breast cancer on mammograms.1-7 It is beginning to be applied in the detection and differential diagnosis of many different kinds of abnormalities in medical images obtained with various modalities.

As digital mammography finally gains momentum, a new paper documents several considerations to make transition efforts as seamless as possible.

Wavelet compression can shrink large, unwieldy digital mammography images by a factor of 100 without any loss in image quality, according to a German study presented at the European Congress of Radiology in March.

Earnings rose at Hologic in the second fiscal quarter of 2007 and the company raised its guidance for the year, leading to a heady market open for traders in the company’s stock. But shares failed to follow through, and the stock plummeted from a height of $60 to within a few cents of $53 within a half hour. The ride continued as shares traded up and down throughout the morning, settling in a range between $54 and $56 by midday.

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Next year, my son will begin driving the family car. Before he does, he’ll learn the rules of the road in a classroom and behind the wheel, not to mention undergoing the umpteen hours of driving I have planned for the two of us in parking lots and on side roads. Yet I know that teenagers, though just 7% of licensed drivers, suffer 14% of fatalities and 20% of all reported accidents. How do I know? Because statisticians have told me.

A study asserting that mammography CAD does more harm than good is deeply flawed in design and conclusions, according to executives at Hologic. The study, which appears today in The New England Journal of Medicine, concludes that CAD, when used in screening mammography, causes significantly more callbacks and biopsies without increased cancer detection.

Radiologists may be adept at rejecting hundreds of false positives flagged by computer-aided detection software, but they also have a strong tendency to dismiss correctly identified cancers, mistakenly believing the findings are benign, according to new research.

For the first time, data accrued over a decade show that the involvement of the pharmaceutical industry in clinical breast cancer research may have significantly influenced study design, focus, and results, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of Cancer.

Radiologists can maximize their diagnoses of lung abnormalities using computer-aided detection systems if they develop a better understanding of the strengths and shortcomings of every factor involved in the process, according to studies presented at the RSNA meeting.

With popular actresses Sally Field and Andie MacDowell looking on, Dr. Etta Pisano picked up a Ladies Home Journal Health Breakthrough award last year, in recognition of her work in promoting better screening for breast cancer.

Congratulations! You've just received budget approval for full-field digital mammography. But before you begin the process of purchasing and installing your new system, you have a bit of preliminary work to do.

Trails blazed in medicine often bring controversy and even consternation. Breast care is no different. Since 1965, when the American College of Radiology formed the Committee on Mammography, advances in breast imaging and legislation to ensure its quality have largely centered on x-ray mammography.

GE Healthcare is refining its mobile approach to screening mammography in outreach efforts aimed at serving Europe’s diverse populations, adapting digital technology to meet the rural challenges found in both Western and Eastern European nations.

As digital mammography finally gains momentum, a new paper documents several considerations to make transition efforts as seamless as possible.