Computer systems could accelerate breast cancer detection
Computer-aided detection could nearly halve the time needed to perform
breast cancer screens, enabling women to have more personal consultations and to
undergo more routine x-rays. Current procedures require that two radiologists review
each mammogram, but research performed at the Universities of Aberdeen and Manchester
and at Cancer Research UK in London, all in the UK, suggests that only a single
review is necessary with the use of a specialized computer system.
The system — made by R2 Technology
of Sunnyvale, Calif. — digitizes the mammograms and displays them on a flat
panel screen as low-spatial-resolution images. It then uses algorithms to generate
several regions of interest on the display, prompting doctors to determine whether
the regions mark tumors.
As reported in the October issue of
Radiology,
the investigators studied more than 10,000 mammograms that had been previously reviewed
by two radiologists without computer assistance. A different set of experienced
radiologists read the x-rays with the assistance of the computer-aided detection
system, and their decisions were compared with those
of the original reviewers. Researchers knew whether the patients were recalled for
further testing or were diagnosed with cancer.
Overall, single readers using the computer system
detected cancer with 15 percent greater accuracy but required 32 percent more recalls.
Nonetheless, the scientists concluded that the sensitivities of both methods were
equivalent.
They noted that improved image quality
and an increase in reader performance over the time between the two studies, regardless
of the use of computer systems, could have caused the detection rate to appear greater
than it was. They also contended that doctors may have requested more recalls because
they would not have any clinical consequences. Nevertheless, the results were sufficiently
encouraging for them to begin a trial of the detection system in a live clinical
setting.
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