CHICAGO, Nov. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/
-- Radiologists significantly improved their cancer detection
in mammography without increasing reading times when using
Transpara™ software from ScreenPoint Medical, according to results
of a study published with open access in Radiology.
In the study, "Detection of breast cancer using mammography:
Impact of an Artificial Intelligence support system," researchers
compared breast cancer detection performance of radiologists
conducting a single-read of mammography exams to performance when
supported by the Transpara artificial intelligence (AI) system.
Screening mammograms were interpreted by 14 radiologists, once with
and once without AI support, providing a BI-RADS® score and
probability of malignancy. Diagnostic performance and reading times
were compared.
Radiologists improved their overall diagnostic performance when
using Transpara, with the average AUC increasing from 0.87 to 0.89
(P = 0.002). Results showed that sensitivity increased from 83 to
86 percent and specificity increased from 77 to 79 percent when
using Transpara as a decision support tool. Use of Transpara did
not slow down the readers but decreased their average reading time
per case. Overall the reduction was 4.5 percent, which was due to
faster reading of exams marked with low-suspicion by Transpara.
The results suggest that the use of Transpara for decision
support might prevent missed cancers and interpretation errors that
are relatively common in the reading of mammography. Having a
stand-alone sensitivity and specificity similar to that of
radiologists, use of the Transpara software in combination with
single-reading might achieve a performance similar to double human
reading. According to the researchers, the improvement in
diagnostic performance was most prevalent in the evaluation of
equivocal cases, underscoring the potential clinical relevance of
Transpara.
"Given the high workload of screening programs, the benefit of
using Transpara is further enhanced by the fact that it does not
increase reading time. The system is designed for concurrent use,
which means that radiologists are supported while reading an exam
rather than after finishing their interpretation, which is how
traditional mammography CAD systems work. Radiologists like this
approach and get confidence in the system as they work with it,
when they recognize that the system may be as good as themselves."
said Prof. Nico Karssemeijer, founder and CEO of ScreenPoint
Medical.
Utilizing state of the art image analysis and revolutionary deep
learning technology, Transpara automatically identifies soft-tissue
and calcification lesions and combines the findings of all
available views into a single cancer suspiciousness score.
Interactive decision support is a proven method to boost reading
performance for soft tissue lesions. In addition, Transpara
combines analysis of soft tissue lesions and calcifications, if
present, from all available views of an exam to compute a single
score for the case on a scale of 1 to 10. This represents
categories with increasing occurrence of cancer. Breast imaging
professionals can use this Transpara Score to automatically
identify exams that are highly likely to be normal or the exams
which are most likely to have suspicious findings.
Transpara has European regulatory approval (CE Mark) for use
with digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and
is compatible with images from multiple vendors Regulatory
clearance for marketing in the U.S. is expected soon. The system is
installed in leading centers throughout Europe.
About ScreenPoint Medical BV
ScreenPoint Medical develops image analysis technology for
automated reading of mammograms and digital breast tomosynthesis
exams, exploiting Big Data, Deep Learning and the latest
developments in Artificial Intelligence. ScreenPoint Medical was
founded in 2014 by Nico Karssemeijer and Michael Brady, two experts in breast imaging,
machine learning, computer vision, and computer-aided detection.
The main office is in Nijmegen, The
Netherlands.
Media Contact:
Chris K. Joseph
510/435-4031
chris@ckjcomm.com
SOURCE ScreenPoint Medical