The market for computer-aided detection software has been warming up for some time, but much of the heat has come from a relatively small number of stalwart companies. This heat has come, for the most part, from an orderly expansion beyond mammography, the cornerstone of CAD, into other body parts, particularly the lung and colon. Now the potential of this field has attracted additional companies, as well as multimodality firms, that in the year ahead could turn up the temperature substantially.
The market for computer-aided detection software has been warming up for some time, but much of the heat has come from a relatively small number of stalwart companies. This heat has come, for the most part, from an orderly expansion beyond mammography, the cornerstone of CAD, into other body parts, particularly the lung and colon. Now the potential of this field has attracted additional companies, as well as multimodality firms, that in the year ahead could turn up the temperature substantially.
Known for its medical imaging systems and PACS workstations, Cedara broadened its clinical packages to include CAD support for breast imaging with the addition of a prototype ultrasound CAD solution.
Since introducing its core product, CADstream, in 2002, Confirma has distinguished itself in the development of products that streamline the processing of breast MR studies. Its current generation of CADstream incorporates integrated treatment planning features, a multimodality configuration, and interactive maximum intensity projections. The company has also added a breast coil for enhancing the diagnosis and interventional management of breast cancer with MR.
Now that product lines from its 2003 acquisition of CADx have been fully integrated, iCAD is offering CAD systems that cross a spectrum of price points. The Second Look 200, recently introduced to the U.S. market at prices beginning at $49,950, is geared for low-volume clinics that perform between five and 20 mammograms a day. Second Look 200 joins the flexible Second Look 400 moderately priced series for high-volume breast imaging centers and the advanced Second Look 500 multimodality product. New products include a quantification and characterization tool for mammography and collaborative works-in-progress for lung CT and virtual colonoscopy.
After receiving approval from the FDA on Nov. 29, Kodak has begun shipping the Kodak Mammography CAD System. The system has been in development since the Kodak Health Imaging Group acquired the mammography CAD solution company Miramedica in 2003.
Fresh off receipt of FDA market clearance for its Computer Assisted Reader (CAR) for lung and colon image analysis software, Medicsight announced agreements to integrate its systems with products from three major vendors. Agfa will integrate and distribute both Colon and Lung CAR in its solutions for general radiology and clinical specialties. Vital Images will integrate Colon CAR into its CT colon product InnerviewGI. Viatronix will integrate both CAR systems into its product lines. Medicsight's Lung and Colon CAR are joint-read systems that allow radiologists to review unfiltered, as well as software-enhanced, regions of interest at the same time. The systems, which deploy a series of filters to enhance boundary identification, were shown by Viatronix, Vital Images, and Agfa.
Philips is striking out on its own with a CT lung nodule product. Shown as a work-in-progress, the lung nodule CAD is building on core Philips competencies to minimize the rate of false-positive findings. It is being tested in trials prior to submission to the FDA for approval.
Boasting the first CAD system to receive approval from the FDA for detection of lung nodules on multidetector CT chest exams, R2 Technology is offering lung nodule detection in a stand-alone workstation or integrated with Sectra and Kodak PACS. The company also has introduced new mammography CAD tools and advanced features for the CheckMate Ultra display unit. It plans to release CAD software for detecting filling defects in the pulmonary arteries.
By investing resources and marketing savvy, Riverain Medical seeks to make chest radiograph CAD a practical utility for routine radiological practices. The company is marketing products originally developed by Deus Imaging Technologies and approved by the FDA for lung cancer detection. It continues to support research by Deus scientists in the Riverain Deus Research Center, which is focusing on the development of a dual-energy subtraction CAD system and CT lung image matching or temporal subtraction.
As it readies the M-Vu mammography CAD system for market, VuComp is fine-tuning its CAD algorithms and upgrading the performance of its processor. The company expects to submit the M-Vu system, which has been designed to improve the detection of small breast masses and clarify vague architectural distortions, to the FDA in 2005.
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