The Diagnostic Imaging mammography modality focus page provides information, videos, podcasts, and the latest news about industry product developments, trial results, screening guidelines, and protocol guidance that touch on the use of mammography, including 2D digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, and breast ultrasound.
September 3rd 2025
While the AI software offered nearly equivalent negative predictive value (NPV) to radiologist interpretation of digital mammograms and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images, researchers noted that AI had significantly higher recall rates and false-positive results in patients with intermediate risk.
Buyers hear warning of digital mammography interoperability
January 9th 2006Interest in digital mammography was strong on the 2005 RSNA exhibit floor, driven at least in part by positive results from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial, whose results were announced 10 weeks prior to the start of the meeting. A few doors down from the prospective buyers crowding exhibitor booths, however, early adopters of the equipment were sounding an alarm.
Mammographers ask vendors for consistency in digital display
December 1st 2005Digital mammography cleared a substantial hurdle earlier this year, when researchers established its clinical advantages in women under 50 and in those with dense breasts. Now, with demand for digital already on the rise, the technology faces another obstacle: image integration and workstation interoperability.
Radiologists benefit from uptick in breast biopsies
November 30th 2005The volume of breast biopsies performed on Medicare beneficiaries has soared in recent years, and radiologists have taken the lion’s share of the utilization growth, according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting on Wednesday.
Mammography CAD upgrade provides users with flexibility
November 29th 2005An upgrade to the computer-aided detection product line from R2 Technology gives users a choice of operating points to set different sensitivity/false marker rates for microcalcifications and masses in the breast. The enhanced system allows users to set sensitivity to their own comfort levels, providing unprecedented flexibility, according to the company.
Konica CR mammography system magnifies edge effects
November 27th 2005A new phase-contrast CR mammography system that magnifies edge effects from x-ray refraction is sharpening contrast at the edges of the breast. The system, unveiled today at the RSNA meeting, also enhances the visualization of microcalcifications and fibrils within the breast, according to representatives from Konica Minolta.
Buyers beware of digital mammography interoperability
November 27th 2005Hot on the heels of favorable findings from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial, digital mammography systems are in high demand on the RSNA exhibition floor. But buyers may have a rude awakening when they encounter problems with interoperability of systems from different vendors, according to a mammography task force.
Software enhances visualization of dense breasts
November 27th 2005OpView image processing software reconstructs breast images obtained from full-field digital mammography, as well as ultrasound and MRI, to bring clarity to challenging breast scans. The software, unveiled Sunday at the RSNA meeting by Siemens Medical Solutions, will assist interpretation of lesions in dense breasts and microcalcifications, according to the company.
RFA bolsters breast-preserving surgery
November 9th 2005Ablating the safety margins of tumors following lumpectomy could reduce the need for another resection. The combined treatment approach could also reduce breast disfigurement, according to a study presented at the American College of Surgeons annual meeting in October.
Annexin V SPECT maps apoptosis in human stroke
November 2nd 2005CONTEXT: Cerebral tissue damage due to stroke occurs in two stages: Lack of blood causes initial damage, and delayed cell death, presumably by apoptosis, follows in neighboring regions. Dr. Francis Blankenberg, an associate professor of radiology and pediatric medicine at Stanford University, used technetium-99m-rh-Hynic-Annexin V, an imaging marker that binds to cells at an early stage of apoptosis, to identify at-risk tissue surrounding the initial damage caused by stroke. Tc-99m-rh-Hynic-Annexin V attaches to phosphatidylserine, a phospholipid that is expressed on the membranes of neuronal cells undergoing apoptosis and is viewed using SPECT.
After a long haul, digital finally gains an edge
November 2nd 2005Digital mammography's superiority over film in cancer detection in select patients took industry watchers and researchers by surprise. While proponents hoped for a best-case scenario of a clinical draw between the two techniques, few expected digital to excel.
Mammography vendors pursue better operability
November 2nd 2005Digital mammography is maturing. Full-field digital systems are becoming more flexible, endowed with screening and diagnostic capabilities, while physicians are experimenting with 3D capabilities that promise to eliminate poor visualization and clutter on 2D mammograms. Workstations designed to display digital mammograms are becoming more cosmopolitan. Like workstations built for CT and MR, they can exchange and display imaging data from multiple sources and modalities.
Siemens’ digital mammography unit gains accreditation
October 24th 2005The last of the four FDA-approved full-field digital scanners, Siemens Mammomat Novation DR, has gained American College of Radiology accreditation. The FDA granted the ACR the right in 2003 to accredit the other three digital mammography machines approved for sale in the U.S.: GE Senographe 2000D, Fischer SenoScan, and Lorad Selenia. The ACR accredits about 95% of mammography equipment in the U.S., while the state handles the accreditation process in Texas, Arkansas, and Iowa.
ACR picks up accreditation of Siemens’ digital mammo unit
October 17th 2005The FDA has given the American College of Radiology the authority to accredit the Siemens Mammomat digital mammography scanner as of Oct. 15. It is the last of the four FDA-approved full-field digital scanners to come under the ACR accreditation umbrella.
CR vendors prepare blitz into U.S. mammography market
October 10th 2005Computed radiographic mammography, although widely available in Europe and Asia, is only now coming to the U.S. market, as major manufacturers hope to win FDA approval for their devices in the coming months, weeks, even days.
SonoSite launches new flagship onto medical seas
October 5th 2005The ultrasound market in the U.S. stumbled last year, with the exception of hand-carried systems. Sales of ultrasound units were flat in 2004, but demand for handheld systems grew in the double digits, according to industry sources. The physicians driving those sales included not only radiologists but relative newcomers to the ultrasound fold such as surgeons and emergency room physicians.