Mammography

Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) captured the lion’s share of attention during the 2004 RSNA meeting. As expected, Siemens Medical Solutions showed its Mammomat Novation as a marketable product, while several other manufacturers reappeared with upgraded products or works-in-progress.

Full-field digital mammography is comparable to screen-film in detecting breast cancer, according to results of a randomized trial in Norway involving nearly 25,000 women.

Hologic, which in recent years has made women’s health its principal focus, is showing its full-field digital breast tomosynthesis system as a work-in-progress for the second consecutive RSNA meeting. Despite growing interest in this technology, the company expects to present it as a work-in-progress again next year.

Siemens’ fortunes in women’s health have taken a turn for the better since the company released its full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system. Only a few months after the FDA approved its Novation FFDM, Siemens executives were animated about the product.

Adding a clinical breast exam to routine mammography screenings can pick up additional cancers, but at a cost. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, adding CBE to screening helped identify an additional eight cancers at a cost of $106,280 each, said Dr. Kimberly Feigin, a radiologist at the New York medical center.

Preliminary findings from a national trial of ultrasound as a screening tool in patients at high risk for breast cancer shed light on key variables that influence radiologist interpretive performance.

Hormone replacement therapy, previous breast surgery, and a low body mass index may interfere with the accuracy of screening mammography, according to a study in the October British Medical Journal.

Strong evidence suggests that MR imaging is the most sensitive of all breast imaging techniques, including state-of-the-art mammography and high-frequency breast ultrasound. In contrast to mammography, the sensitivity and specificity of MR are not impaired by dense breast tissue, fibrocystic disease, or therapeutic interventions such as postsurgical scars or radiotherapy-induced fibrosis.

Hormone replacement therapy, previous breast surgery, and a low body mass index may reduce the accuracy of screening mammography, according to a study in the 28 August edition of the British Medical Journal (2004;329:477). Age, family history, physical activity levels, smoking, and alcohol consumption did not significantly affect the sensitivity or specificity.

Planmed, which markets a variety of advanced mammography products, is showing its Nuance full-field digital mammography system during RSNA 2004. A work-in-progress, the Nuance is being displayed with a tomosynthesis capability.

Digital mammography’s latest vendor, Siemens Medical Solutions, is showing its new Mammomat Novation system on the 2004 RSNA exhibit floor. The product meets all the demands of modern mammography practices, providing digital screening, diagnosis, and stereotactic biopsy capabilities. Since receiving FDA approval in August, Novation has been installed at 10 sites, and the company expects to install another 20 by year-end.

Plans to digitize radiology departments often exclude mammography. But advances in digital acquisition, viewing, and network technologies mean that this should no longer be the case, according to a group of Spanish researchers.

Adding a clinical breast exam to routine mammography screenings can pick up additional cancers, but at a cost. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, adding CBE to screening helped identify an additional eight cancers at a cost of $106,280 each, said Dr. Kimberly Feigin, a radiologist at the New York medical center.

Cedara Software is developing a computer-assisted detection system for breast ultrasound. The software, announced as a work-in-progress at the RSNA meeting, is intended to identify the sonographic characteristics of benign as well as malignant breast masses and to classify the extent of malignancy for specific nodules.

The SenoScan2 slot scanning digital mammography (SSDM) system from Fischer Imaging is being introduced at the RSNA meeting. Fischer designs, manufactures, and markets medical imaging systems for screening and diagnosis.

Breast tomosynthesis may be a work-in-progress in the RSNA exhibit halls, but researchers are already considering ways to incorporate computer-assisted detection algorithms to improve its efficacy.

Full-field digital mammography is comparable to screen-film in detecting breast cancer, according to results of a randomized trial in Norway involving nearly 25,000 women.

Combining computer-aided detection with screening mammography increases marginal costs per year of life saved by 19%. This is well within the cost-effectiveness range of other medical procedures, according to a study presented Monday.

An investigational device shown as a work-in-progress at the RSNA meeting promises to improve the detection of breast cancer by keying off the process of angiogenesis, which can transform an innocuous tumor into a lethal one by triggering the growth of new blood vessels to feed the cancer.

Preliminary findings from a national trial of ultrasound as a screening tool in patients at high risk for breast cancer shed light on key variables that influence radiologist interpretive performance.

Hologic, which in recent years has made women’s health its principal focus, is showing its full-field digital breast tomosynthesis system as a work-in-progress for the second consecutive RSNA meeting. Despite growing interest in this technology, the company expects to present it as a work-in-progress again next year.

The Access Breast Coil appearing for the first time at the RSNA meeting has a multichannel phased-array architecture to enhance image quality of the breast, axillary tissue, and chest wall. The investigational device, which is being shown at the Confirma booth, has multiple receivers to power the phased-array coils, which may reduce MR imaging time, as well as a large field-of-view. It can support unilateral and bilateral imaging.

PET pioneer acquires micro-CT firm CTI Molecular Imaging plans to acquire ImTek, a provider of micro-CT systems for imaging laboratory animals used in medical research. The $3.75 million cash deal is expected to close by the end of November. Financial performance and milestone achievements hold the potential for future incentive payments. The acquisition of ImTek, which designs and manufactures the MicroCAT scanners, would complement CTI Concorde, a business unit of CTI Molecular Imaging dedicated to the manufacture of micro-PET scanners.

Full-field digital mammography and advanced digital applications will dominate this year’s mammography offerings on the RSNA exhibit floor.

Digital mammography is inevitable. People may argue over the details, but everyone accepts the fact that screen-film mammography-radiology's last major analog holdout-cannot stand forever.

Hormone replacement therapy, previous breast surgery, and a low body mass index may reduce the accuracy of screening mammography, according to a study in the August issue of the British Medical Journal.

Philips cuts deal with healthcare enterpriseMarietta Memorial Hospital and Philips have struck a multiyear strategic agreement to bring advanced medical technology, clinical support, and staff education to the southeastern region of Ohio. Marietta and Philips have worked together for more than 10 years to outfit Marietta’s Cancer Center with digital x-ray and CT simulator systems.

Just like double-checking a grocery receipt to make sure you haven’t been overcharged, researchers suggest attention be paid to x-ray stereotactic biopsy cores to ensure they contain previously targeted calcifications. Cores obtained without such calcifications have a higher chance of missing malignant lesions.