Emerging Trends in Breast Imaging: An Interview with Zeeshan Shah, MD

While maintaining that artificial intelligence (AI) for breast imaging is at an “infancy” stage, Zeeshan Shah, M.D., noted in a recent Diagnostic Imaging interview that he can see a pathway where AI has increased capability of pinpointing negative mammography exams, enabling radiologists to spend significantly more time on cases that are more ambiguous and concerning.

“ … As the AI gets better, the ability to predict negativity on an exam gets better, and that's the key. If I can actually confidently say that an exam is negative, then ultimately, I can see patients faster. I can read exams quicker, because then I don't spend as much time kind of worrying about a patient who looks negative. I can actually confirm that with the second set of eyes,” explained Dr. Shah, the president of Elite Breast Imaging.

Dr. Shah said leveraging the future capabilities of AI may be a cornerstone of helping to address the radiologist shortage as well as health equity issues. In working with Radiology Partners, Dr. Shah noted they are working on a platform that may facilitate broader access to fellowship-trained breast radiologists.

“ … How do we take our expertise that we've kind of restricted to breast centers historically in big cities and metropolitan areas or academic centers and expand that to the rest of the country?,” posited Dr. Shah. “ … How do we kind of make it so that we as radiologists can see more patients at any time while still maintaining the quality and the standards that we've always prided ourselves on?”

(Editor’s note: For related content, see “Large Mammography Study Shows Mixed Results with AI in Breast Cancer Screening,” “New Mammography Study Examines Association Between Breast Density Changes and Breast Cancer Risk” and “Teleradiology and Breast Imaging: Keys to Facilitating Personalized Service, Efficiency and Equity.”)

For more insights from Dr. Shah, watch the video below.