CAD: Breast and Chest Units for Just About Any Facility

CAD vendors are diversifying with new products tailored (and priced) specifically to the unique needs of organizations of various sizes. Breast centers can now opt for a CAD solution that will facilitate the transition to digital. And CAD is no longer relegated to breast imaging; a few lung CAD solutions will be on display too.



R2 Technology Inc. (Booth #8532) is showcasing its family of ImageChecker CAD systems. In addition to the flagship ImageChecker DM (dual mode for film and digital), the ImageChecker LX and DX systems offer CAD solutions to mammography sites that conduct a lower or more moderate volume of mammograms. The company will introduce a new CAD algorithm that is more easily tailored to suit varied clinical needs and offer a sneak preview of the future-oriented CAD.

The ImageChecker DMax is debuting at RSNA and is engineered to enhance workflow with a new high-quality digital scanner, higher case throughput and the ability to process up to 20 cases at a time. The system is designed for efficiency and ease of use and has the smallest footprint R2 has ever offered for high-density, high-performance CAD.

R2 also is featuring the ImageCheckerCT system, which is approved for computer-aided detection of solid lung nodules during review of multi-detector CT (MDCT) chest exams. The CAD algorithms examine the CT study in three dimensions and automatically detect potential areas of interest, increasing physician accuracy by decreasing observational oversights, according to R2. Through workflow-enhancing tools, automatic measurement and characterization information of the detected lung nodules, the ImageChecker CT workstation is designed to improve radiologist efficiency in reviewing chest CT exams. The CAD software is designed to improve radiologist accuracy in solid lung nodule detection.

R2 Technology also is showcasing two recently FDA-cleared software packages for use with the ImageChecker CT system. One covers the Temporal Comparison software module, which provides automatic 3D registration and the ability to automatically track lung nodule progression or regression over time. The second clearance is for the Filling Defect Indicator software module, designed to help physicians visualize and evaluate filling defects in pulmonary arteries, such as pulmonary emboli.



iCAD (Booth #3973) is bringing the Enhanced Second Look 200 to RSNA. The system performs computer-aided detection of breast cancer on film-based mammograms and is specifically designed for clinics that perform less than 20 mammograms per day. Second Look is enhanced to encompass a "no training required" user interface.

The next option on display is the Enhanced Second Look 500, which performs computer-aided detection of breast cancer on film-based mammograms and is specifically designed for clinics that plan to upgrade to digital mammography, need a DICOM file interface, have higher performance goals and those that do up to 12 mammograms per case, including cases involving breast implants. Second Look 500 offers multiple operating points to match specific workflows and is upgradeable to digital mammography and multimodality support, including breast MRI. iCAD's Second Look 500M performs computer-aided detection of breast cancer on breast MRI as well as film-based mammograms and also can be upgraded to include digital mammography CAD. This system provides CAD results for multiple modalities on one single viewer.

iCAD also is highlighting Second Look Digital, which now includes computer-aided detection of breast cancer on the new GE Senographe DS, Hologic Selenia Diamond as well as for the Fischer SenoScan and GE Senographe 2000.

The Enhanced Second Look 400/402 now incorporates the same Second Look 6.0 CAD algorithms and can process up to 39 cases for hour, making it a good solution for clinics that batch read for other facilities.



Siemens Medical Solutions (Booth #2729) is focusing on its strengthened CAD position made possible by the purchase of CADVision Medical Technologies. CADVision offers a mammography CAD system to help in the detection and analysis of breast lesions. The technology is based on patented algorithms that enable the detection of breast lesions in combination with advanced classification capabilities and is currently undergoing clinical validation.



Eastman Kodak Co. (Booth #3537) is demonstrating its new KODAK Mammography CAD system, which applies algorithms to help identify suspicious areas on patients' digitized mammograms, guiding radiologists to re-examine these areas for possible disease.



VuCOMP, Inc. (booth #1158) is showcase at RSNA its M-Vu mammography CAD system, which uses proprietary image-understanding algorithms to find early signs of cancer. It relies on a fundamentally different approach than the typical learn-by-example algorithmic methods and focuses on providing a low false positive rate while detecting the subtle abnormalities in mammograms such as small masses and architectural distortions, as well as calcifications. M-Vu is currently an investigational device.



Confirma (Booth #7140) is introducing new, advanced automated features for CADstream, its computer-aided detection (CAD) product for breast MRI. CADStream 4.0 offers a streamlined-CADstream portfolio for treatment planning that automatically provides summaries with size, classification and location for volume of interest and incorporates ACR BI-RADS for lesion classification. Version 4.0 is multimodality ready and offers users the ability to access and view patients' mammography and ultrasound studies while interpreting breast MRI study in CADstream. Interactive MIPs incorporate angiomap overlay, 3D navigation and mammography views. DICOM features include connectivity, archiving, query-retrieve and printing capabilities. The SureLoc interventional guidance tool is designed for users currently performing MR-guided interventional breast procedures and enables automatic CAD-analysis and reporting of lesion location and calculations at the point of procedure.

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer. 

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