Open architecture takes CAD beyond mammography

The OmniCAD, introduced by R2 Technology Monday, Dec. 2, promises to move CAD beyond the breast, providing a universal computer-aided detection platform with an open architecture. The new system accepts both film and digital images. It opens the door to CAD applications outside mammography, supporting such other modalities as CT, computed radiography, and digital radiography.

With OmniCAD, company strategists have laid the groundwork for a family of products. ImageChecker DM, which is scheduled for commercial release by mid-2003, will be in the CAD mainstream, supporting film-based and digital mammography systems made by any manufacturer. A later release will be used with CT to detect lung nodules. The company is also developing CAD software for spotting pulmonary lesions on multislice CT exams.

Toward this end, the company has developed an ImageChecker CT workstation, which combines dedicated computer software and hardware to receive and display CT exams and DICOM-structured reports of suspicious areas identified by CAD. The workstation also incorporates summaries of radiologists' review findings and transfers the information to a local database. The investigational software contains algorithms that flag potential areas of interest and measure and characterize imaging information about each lesion.