Connect Imaging introduces software for Fuji digital mammography systems

Connect Imaging, Inc., a provider of tailor-made PACS (picture archiving and communication systems), has introduced new software for use with FCRm digital mammography systems from FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA.

According to Philip J. Manly, chief executive officer of Connect Imaging, the company developed its newest module, called VCM Port, to address an issue Connect Imaging identified while validating its PACS for use with Fuji’s computed radiography mammography systems installed at one of Connect’s clients.

“We are pleased to offer this software product to other users of Fuji’s mammography CR systems,” Manly said. “Connect Imaging excels at addressing the unique workflow issues associated with digital mammography, including those of integrating prior film-based studies. For Fuji, we created customized software for use with its Flash Plus IIPm console unit to ensure that all portions of a mammography study are hung correctly.”

source: ConnectImaging

Quest International Announces They Will be First in US to Exhibit True 12-Bit Grayscale Mammographic Images

IRVINE, Calif., April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Quest International, Inc. (Quest) announced they will show true 12-bit, grayscale mammographic images, utilizing an Apple Mac system, OsiriX and the Totoku, ME551i2, medical LCD display, at the upcoming Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), to be held in Seattle, Washington.

Quest will be demonstrating the imaging breakthrough using the Apple Mac Pro 8-Core workstation with two ME551i2 medical, LCD displays. The ME551i2 is a 21.3-inch, 5 megapixel, DICOM-compliant diagnostic display. The ME551i2 is the only display able to interface with the new 64-bit version of OsiriX, the most advanced open-source PACS workstation DICOM viewer on the market.

source: PR Newswire

iCAD receives FDA Approval for its SecondLook Digital for use with Fuji’s Digital Mammography System

iCAD®, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICAD), an industry-leading provider of Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) solutions, today announced that iCAD’s SecondLook® Digital Computer-Aided Detection system for mammography received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale withFujifilm Computed Radiography for Mammography (FCRm) systems. SecondLook Digitalfor FCRm is the first CAD product approved and available in the U.S. for use with computer radiography (CR).

“The addition of CAD functionality to CR digital mammography takes screening and diagnostic capabilities to an unprecedented level,” said Rachel Brem, M.D., Director of Breast Imaging and Interventional Care at the George Washington University Hospital. “CAD improves upon existing mammography systems by providing an ability to find overlooked cancers, helping the radiologist find cancer earlier and ultimately improve the level of care for every patient.”

source: iCAD

Whole Breast Ultrasound Powered by Medipattern Shown as an Effective Method for Breast Screening in China

The Medipattern Corporation (TSX VENTURE:MKI), an award-winning developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) medical imaging software designed to aid physicians in making better informed biopsy decisions and to permit a higher standard of care for the millions of patients at risk of cancer, is pleased to announce that partner SonoCine Inc. ("SonoCine") successfully demonstrated automated whole breast ultrasound in breast screening applications in China. In direct comparison between a doctor performing breast scans via traditional 2D frozen frame imaging and automated whole breast ultrasound, the whole breast method found more pathology. Medipattern writes the software that powers the SonoCine viewer building 3D images of the breast and supplies its B-CADTM computer aided detection product to the SonoCine product line.

source: MarketWire

GE Healthcare to offer digital mammography reading workshops at Mediconex Conference in Cairo

GE Healthcare, the $17bn healthcare business of General Electric Company (GE), is highlighting the importance of early screening in the diagnosis of breast cancer by offering digital mammography reading workshops for the first time in Egypt.

To be held at the Mediconex Updates on Breast Cancer and Women's Imaging Symposium to be held at the Cairo International Conference Centre on April 7 and 8, 2008.

This training initiative is in line with the global vision of GE Healthcare, which revolves around its 'Early Health' model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the world.

source: AME Info

Siemens to Market Carestream Health's Mammography Digitizer

MALVERN, Pa., April 2, 2008 – Siemens Healthcare (www.usa.siemens.com/healthcare) has announced the addition of a mammography digitizing system from Carestream Healthcare, Inc., (Rochester, N.Y.) to its Accessory Solutions product portfolio. The digitizer is offered through Siemens to U.S. healthcare providers.

Carestream Health’s specialized digitizer enables mammography facilities to transition to digital imaging by converting prior film-based diagnostic and screening mammograms into a digital imaging format so they can be viewed in conjunction with digital mammography exams on a diagnostic workstation.

“With this high-performance digitizer, our customers can help mammography providers enhance their productivity and achieve the benefits of an all-digital workflow enabled by our digital mammography systems,” said Anders Steiner, vice president, Special Systems, Siemens Healthcare. “Facilities will now be able to transition from their current processes, which require them to retrieve, display, and re-file prior film-based mammography exams.”

source: Siemens Medical

FUJIFILM Enjoys Consecutive Year of Record FCRm Sales

STAMFORD, Conn., April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- For the second year in a row, FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA, Inc. has achieved record sales of Fuji Computed Radiography for Mammography (FCRm), further demonstrating its leadership in the breast imaging arena. FUJIFILM's ability to reach a milestone of 500 accredited unit sales in the U.S. within 18 months of FDA approval solidifies its status as the dominant worldwide leader in FFDM installations.

Approved for sale in the U.S. by the FDA in 2006, FCRm presents mammography providers with various equipment configuration combinations, from a centrally located multi-plate reader serving several rooms, to a single plate reader installed right in the exam room.

source: Fuji Medical Systems

Automated 3-D Breast Ultrasound Machine

The newest technology in breast imaging - a fully automated 3-D breast ultrasound machine - is now in use at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Southwestern Center for Breast Care, the first site in Dallas and Fort Worth to obtain the equipment.

Breast ultrasound is a noninvasive procedure that uses sound waves to make a picture of the tissues inside the breast. It has traditionally been used following mammography in the targeted evaluation of a possible abnormality found at screening or on physical examination. Because of recently reported studies, breast cancer screening utilizing ultrasound for high-risk women is beginning to gain traction.

source article: AZoOptics

Breast MRI scans 'overly scare'

Lumps detected in women at a high risk of breast cancer using hi-tech MRI scans overwhelmingly turn out to be false alarms, a Dutch study suggests. But while researchers found five out of six scans which suggested a problem were wrong, they were nonetheless very effective at spotting invasive cancers.

And while false-positives caused anxiety, the study did not find women were rashly opting for mastectomies.

The findings were published in the Annals of Oncology.

source: TamilStar.com

iCAD Awarded New CAD Patent For Integrating Information From Multiple Mammography Images

iCAD, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICAD), an industry-leading provider of Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) solutions for the early identification of cancer, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office recently granted the Company U.S. Patent No. 7,333,645. This patent addresses how the Company’s CAD systems can improve cancer detection by applying technology that integrates information from multiple mammography images, including prior exams.

“We are continuously working to enhance our CAD offerings, including the development of technologies that will further improve CAD performance for radiologists,” said Ken Ferry, President and Chief Executive Officer of iCAD. “It is a strategic priority to expand our portfolio of patents that protect our intellectual property and the innovation that powers iCAD products in the detection of cancer, and we are delighted to be granted this new patent.”

source: iCAD

MRI's high false positive rate has little impact on women's choice of preventive mastectomy

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) falsely detects breast cancer in five out of every six positive scans according to new research into the use of MRI for women with a high, inherited risk of developing the disease. However, this high rate of false positives does not have a major impact on a woman’s decision whether or not to have a prophylactic mastectomy.

The study, published today (Wednesday 26 March) in the April issue of the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology [1], also showed that MRI was very good at detecting genuine cases of invasive cancers and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a localised pre-cancer that can develop into invasive breast cancer, although the authors said that improvements in detection were still necessary.

source article: Eurekalert

RadNet Announces Its Entry into Comprehensive Breast Disease Management Services

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RadNet, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDNT - News), a national leader in providing high-quality, cost-effective diagnostic imaging services through a network of owned and operated outpatient imaging centers, today reported that it has expanded its service offering in Southern California to provide a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating all forms of breast cancer and breast disease. RadNet’s new BreastLink division was formed with the acquisitions of a prominent Southern California Breast Medical Oncology business and a leading breast surgery business.

According to the American Cancer Society, women living in North America have the highest rate of breast cancer in the world. At this time, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. Behind skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women in the United States.

Radnet Inc.

Make Your Mammogram a Positive Experience: Author Offers Guidelines and Tips to Change Women's Negative Attitudes Toward Mammograms

HOUSTON, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the
National Cancer Institute, 1 in 8 women will develop breast
cancer in her lifetime. More than 40,000 women will die of
breast cancer in the United States this year.The disease is
second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer
deaths in American women.

Throughout her career as a mammographer, Carole
Aydell has heard countless excuses for why women refuse
to get mammograms. Her new book,
"BARING YOUR BREAST: Mammograms: A Positive Experience" (published by
AuthorHouse -- http://www.authorhouse.com),
stresses the importance of mammograms for the early
detection and prevention of breast cancer, and provides
women with the tools necessary to make their next
mammogram experience a positive one.

press release: PR Newswire

Overcoming Limitations

By Joyce Kuzmin

Stereoscopic technology advances breast cancer screening

Standard screening mammography captures a 2-D, projected image of the breast volume from two different points of view: one vertical and the other approximately horizontal.

While this method is widely accepted as a highly effective tool in detecting breast cancer long before a lump can be felt, it remains one of the most difficult radiological exams to interpret.

Often, radiologists examining mammograms are looking for early-stage abnormalities that are less than half a centimeter in diameter, so the accuracy of readings depends on the skill and experience of the radiologist.

complete article at: RT Image

Mammograms in Stereo

ATLANTA, Ga. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- This year, 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Many more will see their doctor for an annual mammogram screening. Now, doctors at Emory University in Atlanta are testing a new diagnostic tool that cuts false positive results by almost half and could give doctors a whole new way to detect abnormalities.

When Dr. Carl D'Orsi puts on these glasses, he sees mammograms in a way they've never been seen before. "It's sort of a 'Wow' factor when you first look at it," says Carl D'Orsi, M.D., a radiologist at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, Ga.

complete article at: Ivanhoe.com

Radiologist Leora Lanzkowsky Study re: Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging

Radiologist Leora Lanzkowsky Study Suggests ...

To Better Manage Suspicious Breast Lesions Detected on Breast MRI, There is Significant Value in Utilizing Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A study performed by radiologist Dr. Leora Lanzkowsky, Medical Director of The Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, evaluated whether Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (BSGI) may mitigate the need for biopsy after an indeterminate MRI, thereby potentially reducing the number of false positive breast biopsies, and resultant strain on the patient and health system. The study was recently presented at the National Consortium of Breast Centers Conference (NCBC).

BSGI is a molecular breast imaging technique used for the early detection of breast cancer and in the differentiation of malignant and benign tumors. It relies on advanced gamma imaging technology and mammographic positioning to optimize results. For this study, BSGI was conducted with a commercially available high-resolution gamma camera, the Dilon 6800.

source article: PR Newswire

Wealthier women get more breast cancer screenings, regardless of benefit

Steve Tokar

Among women 65 and older, wealthy women in poor health are more likely to receive screening mammography for breast cancer even when they are unlikely to benefit from the test, while poor women in good health are less likely to receive screening mammography even when they are likely to benefit. The results are in a study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

All of the women in the study were on Medicare, which would minimize cost as a potential barrier to screening, says lead author Brie A. Williams, MD, a staff physician at SFVAMC and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

While the study did not investigate reasons for the disparity, Williams says that wealthier women may be more likely to request mammograms and to have fewer financial and time barriers in getting to mammography appointments.

source: University of California

Doctor speaks about breast health care

Juliette Funes

Mammography expert Laszlo Tabar spoke to about 150 students and teachers in the Titan Student Union about the improvements the next generation of physicians can make to early detection methods and to the breast health care field.

Tabar has read over one million mammography screenings since 1977.

He is the "world's foremost expert on mammography … and set it [mammography] as a gold standard for early detection," said Sora Tanjasiri, an associate professor of health science. In the 1970s when mammography was introduced, Tabar and other researchers held an experiment with women 40 years old and older.

They found advanced cancer was reduced when it was found at a very early stage because of screening. Those without screenings had a higher mortality rate.

source: dailytitan.com

Northeastern University and Mass General Hospital Increase the Accuracy, While Reducing the Diagnosis Time, for Breast Cancer Detection

WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 26 - Researchers at the Northeastern University Computer Architecture Research Lab (NUCAR) and the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS) are teaming with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) on a promising new breast cancer detection technology that improves breast cancer screening accuracy. The team is applying new supercomputing technology to a 30-year-old imaging modality called tomosynthesis, which until now has been relegated to research labs due to its massive and expensive computational requirements.

Called Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT), the system creates a 3D image of the breast using a series of x-ray projections collected during a 20- second, 40-degree sweep. It makes cancer lesions easier to detect among dense breast tissue by creating a stack of 1mm spaced high-resolution slices that can be displayed individually, or assembled into a 3D view that can be rendered for more careful examination.

source: ThomasNet

Breast elastography techniques break new ground

H. A. Abella

Two new ultrasound elastography techniques show promise for the diagnosis and characterization of breast lesions, according to researchers from France and Korea. They could complement standard gray-scale sonography, evaluate suspicious microcalcifications detected with conventional mammography, and do away with unnecessary, painful needle biopsies.

Dr. Alexandra Athanasiu from the Institut Curie in Paris released preliminary results of "supersonic shear wave" sonoelastography for the characterization of breast lesions at the ECR in Vienna Friday. The technique combines the "palpation" effect of the ultrasound beam with a fast imaging sequence that produces a quantitative measurement of tissue elasticity in real time.

source: Diagnostic Imaging

Bertrand Study Finds Significant Value in Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (BSGI) as an Adjunctive Procedure in Breast Diagnostics

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent
study performed by Dr. Margaret Bertrand, Director of Breast
Imaging at Solis Bertrand Breast Center in Greensboro, North
Carolina demonstrated the significant value of Breast-Specific
Gamma Imaging (BSGI) as an adjunctive procedure in breast
diagnostics; specifically demonstrating BSGI to be a useful and
costeffective procedure in the breast diagnostic work up. The
study results were recently presented at the Miami Breast
Cancer Conference.

Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging is a molecular breast
imaging technique used for the early detection of breast cancer
and in the differentiation of and benign tumors. It relies
on advanced gamma imaging technology and mammographic
positioning to optimize results. For this study BSGI was
conducted with a commercially available high-resolution gamma
camera, the Dilon 6800.

source: PR Newswire

CT Laser Mammography Technology To Be Featured At European Congress Of Radiology

Imaging Diagnostic Systems, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: IMDS) a pioneer in laser optical breast imaging systems, will exhibit CT Laser Mammography (CTLM(R)) technology at the annual European Congress of Radiology (ECR 2008), March 7- 11, in Vienna, Austria. IDSI will be located at Expo E #566.

"We are pleased to be a part of ECR 2008," commented Deborah O'Brien, IDSI's Senior Vice President. "As one of the leading international events in radiology, the Congress brings together many influential radiology professionals and focuses on the issues and developments that are important to this medical specialty. It is very beneficial for the Company to participate, both commercially and clinically. "

source: MedicalNewsToday

UCSF researchers validate new model for breast cancer risk

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have developed a way to quickly estimate a woman's risk for invasive breast cancer. The new model, based on a measure of breast density that is already reported with the majority of mammograms today, is the first to be validated across multiple ethnic groups living in the United States.

The model could one day be used to help calculate a woman’s risk for breast cancer each time she has a mammogram, providing her with a realistic sense of her likelihood to develop breast cancer in the future.

“Breast density is the strongest risk factor after age for developing breast cancer,” said lead author Jeffrey Tice, MD, assistant professor in the Department of General Internal Medicine at UCSF. “Unfortunately, there is no model currently available to clinicians for assessing breast cancer risk that includes this important risk factor.

source: University of California, SF

Tests for breast cancer

New imaging technology has changed almost every aspect of medical care, and mammography, the main form of breast cancer screening, is no exception. Ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and digital mammography are now available, either to complement the standard mammogram or, in the case of digital mammogram, possibly to replace it.

The standard mammogram is a low-dose x-ray of the breast developed on film. It can find 85% to 90% of breast cancers, including lumps far too small to be felt. In women who get screened regularly, 40% of breast cancers are discovered by a mammogram alone.

source: Harvard Health Publications

Breast cancer screening rates lowest in London

(PressZoom) - More than a third of women in the capital who are invited to be screened for breast cancer are failing to take up the offer, a report from the London Assembly reveals today.

London has the lowest uptake of breast cancer screening in the country – 13 percent below the national average of 75 percent1. This is despite statistics that show survival rates2 are lagging far behind those in north and central Europe, and one in nine women will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime. In 2005, breast cancer claimed the lives of 1,185 Londoners.

The report, ‘Behind the Screen’, shows large disparities in the uptake of screening across London boroughs. Havering and Bexley have the highest uptake, while Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Tower Hamlets have the lowest.

Older women in more affluent areas are most at risk of developing breast cancer, although survival rates are lower in more deprived areas.

source: PressZoom