Carolina Breast Imaging Specialists of Greenville, North Carolina today announced it is the first U.S. site to begin using iCAD’s advanced artificial intelligence technology, PowerLook Tomo Detection, in conjunction with GE Healthcare’s tomosynthesis platform. PowerLook Tomo Detection is a first-of-its-kind, concurrent-read cancer detection solution for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and is engineered to make it possible for radiologists to detect breast cancer more efficiently.
Medical facilities worldwide are increasingly adopting DBT technology for screening and diagnostic mammography. Tomosynthesis produces hundreds of images compared to 2-D full field digital mammography which typically produces four images. With DBT, radiologists may have to spend significantly more time to review and interpret each exam. The PowerLook Tomo Detection deep learning algorithm automatically analyzes each slice in the tomosynthesis data set, supporting radiologists in identifying suspicious areas with greater speed and precision. Suspicious areas identified by PowerLook Tomo Detection are blended by GE Healthcare’s Seno Iris workstation into the 2-D synthetic image to provide radiologists with a single enhanced image, known as the Enhanced V-Preview image.
“More and more medical facilities are recognizing the benefits of tomosynthesis. It provides a more comprehensive view of each patient’s breast tissue compared to traditional 2-D digital mammography, but the larger data sets produced by DBT can be challenging for radiologists,” said Bruce Schroeder, M.D., Medical Director, Carolina Breast Imaging Specialists. “The Enhanced V-Preview image created by iCAD’s PowerLook Tomo Detection solution and GE Healthcare’s Seno Iris workstation allow radiologists to detect breast cancer in patients more efficiently without compromising clinical performance.”
In a U.S. clinical study conducted in 2016, radiologists were able to significantly reduce review time when reading 3-D tomosynthesis exams with PowerLook Tomo Detection. The study included 20 radiologists reading 240 tomosynthesis cases both with and without the PowerLook Tomo Detection technology. Reading time was reduced by up to 37 percent with an average reduction of 29 percent when using PowerLook Tomo Detection, with no statistically significant impact on sensitivity, specificity or recall rate. PowerLook Tomo Detection received FDA approval in March 2017 and is CE Marked in the European Union and licensed by Health Canada.
“We are excited to be the first facility in the US to offer this innovative solution,” continued Schroeder. “In using PowerLook Tomo Detection we have already seen the benefits for radiologists where we can now review the expansive tomosynthesis image sets more effectively. This allows us to spend our time analyzing abnormalities and consulting with our patients.”
In addition to Carolina Breast Imaging Specialists, iCAD expects multiple other facilities in the US to adopt PowerLook Tomo Detection in the coming months.
For more information: www.CBISpecialists.com