Second Look provides CAD for mammography

Howtek has integrated a computer-aided detection (CAD) system called Second Look into its MultiRAD 850 film digitizer. Second Look, which is being provided by CADx Medical Systems, will offer radiologists a second opinion on the detection of breast cancer, according to company officials.

CADx Medical Systems of Quebec develops and markets systems to be used with mammography and other imaging applications. The Second Look system, which is undergoing clinical trials in the U.S., is already being sold in Europe, Latin America, Canada, and Asia.

Howtek of Hudson, NH, designs, engineers, and manufactures digital image scanners, film digitizers, and related software for applications in medical imaging, graphic arts, and photography.

A patient’s mammography film is fed into the digitizer and Second Look’s software analyzes it using proprietary algorithms. Second Look produces a printed paper image, called the Mammograph, which highlights potential areas of concern. After reviewing the mammogram, radiologists can use the Mammograph to assist with a diagnosis.

Second Look will be available in the U.S. when it gains FDA approval. CADx will file for FDA premarket clearance after clinical trials are complete at the end of the summer, said Bill Bussler, CADx spokesperson. Clinical trials are under way at 11 U.S. sites, including Johns Hopkins University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.