Mammography

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.

Within months, Sectra plans to submit a premarketing agreement application to the FDA for its full-field digital mammography system, according to Torbjhorn Kronander, president of the Swedish mammography and IT firm.

Sectra enhances digital mammography at ECRAgfa demonstrates fusion module at ECRRogan Delft shows enhanced workstation at ECRFujifilm cuts storage deal with HitachiZonare attracts $15M equity fundingMindray sets records in 4Q, fiscal 2006ExAblate readies for Canada

The dominance of x-ray mammography in breast screening seems unlikely to change before ECR 2008, or even ECR 2018. But when it comes to clarifying a positive read or assessing the cause of symptomatic breast pain, a whole host of alternative diagnostic approaches are waiting in the wings.

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. But no system is perfect, and doubts remain, leading to a widespread policy of wait and see.

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 ECR. This finding has tremendous potential benefits for productivity, transmission speed for teleradiology, and PACS storage costs.

Agfa extends digital mammography at ECRPhilips showcases integration at ECRUltraRAD releases new gateway

Youth will rise to the fore at today's European Congress of Radiology. At just 51 years of age, Prof. Christian Herold is one of the youngest ECR presidents and the first from Austria. He admits that he represents the new generation of leaders.

Toshiba installs 400th Vantage MRHologic, Array team up on CAD mammoMerge unveils 64-bit RIS/PACSGE cuts deal with UNC Chapel HillMisys recruits executive VP

Canada okays CR mammoSiemens reaches CT milestoneResearch firm projects contrast media to pull in $15B by 2010Del Global imaging sales rise

News that two views are better than one with the emerging and promising technology of breast tomosynthesis raises questions about the technique's practicality and cost-effectiveness as a screening tool.

Agfa unveils data center at HIMSS 2007Grid developer expands reach, portfolioConfirma bolsters CAD softwareHologic supplies CADS to U.S. Army Misys adds billing softwareImaging firm bags DoD contractiCAD recruits exec for European ops Radlink names chief marketing officerPACS offers bone measurement

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.

Breast ultrasound is a highly useful tool in the hands of an expert, but it is notoriously operator-dependent. Systems that offer partial or full automation to minimize performance variability are gaining attention, as trial data accumulate and system designs evolve.

Men treated for breast cancer face a significantly high risk of future cancers, according to a study published online in the January issue of Breast Cancer Research. The data validate previous findings and suggest a role for screening in these patients.

Kodak’s Health Group begins transition to ‘Carestream’Hologic notches record quarterKorean LCDs include Matrox controllersRIS/PACS firm raises $3.3M

Use of breast ultrasound and MRI in Medicare beneficiaries has been on the rise in a big way, but the picture of mammography utilization in this patient population is less rosy.

The thrust for Richland, WA-based Advanced Imaging Technologies over the last four years has been to transform the acoustical holography system developed by its predecessor firm, Advanced Diagnostics, into a commercial product. The fruit of those labors is the company’s first product, its Aria Breast Imaging System.

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 2006 RSNA meeting.

News that two views are better than one with the emerging and promising technology of breast tomosynthesis raises questions about the technique's practicality and cost-effectiveness as a screening tool.

As if haunted by some kind of Ghost of Healthcare Future, the latest crop of breast imaging papers reported at the RSNA meeting conveyed an ominous undercurrent of uncertainty.

Epix scores with GSK allianceSiemens ties into Fuji CR mammographyBRIT unveils multimodality mammography workstation

Toshiba spotlights CT workflowChina pays for optical mammographyKodak, NDMA ally in Europe

Viatronix merges CAD, virtual colonographyReview of DMIST exposes downside of digital mammographyAurora Imaging heads for China AllRad strikes deal with national PPO

Full-field digital mammography yields higher cancer detection rates than conventional mammography but also boosts recall rates, according to large European studies involving thousands of women. Study findings were presented at the RSNA meeting last week.

The validity of population-based breast screening has once again been called into question by the world's media. The negative headlines have, ironically, been triggered by a report that finds mammography screening saves lives. But it is the concurrent likelihood of overdiagnosis that has captured journalists' attention.