Digital Imaging for Hospital and Community Based Mammography
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Early detection is crucial in reducing the economic and human costs of breast cancer. Digital mammography, which generates electronic images of the breast instead of the traditional photographic films, offers a significant advance in the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. In addition to providing earlier detection, digital mammography will facilitate the use of advanced computer programs to help all California women obtain more prognostic breast cancer examinations. The goal of this project is to develop an innovative computer information system to provide cost-effective digital mammography in a hospital or community clinic.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The proposed system includes the following technological advances, many of which have been developed in our laboratory and will be evaluated for use with digital mammography: direct digital acquisition and storage of whole-breast images; loss/less image compression (reducing the size of images without losing any information); 'intelligent' image management including the integration of images, radiology reports, and medical records; and an innovative computer workstation. We will develop an innovative workstation that we call the "virtual view box." The virtual view box allows a radiologist to view pairs of images, and quickly switch to other images for additional comparisons; this is ideally suited to the rapid comparisons that mammographers currently perform using film. We will develop new electronic tools to optimize the brightness and contrast of the images depending upon the density of the breast and type of lesion, as well as to rapidly view reports and image databases. We will use a rapid prototyping technique to develop and implement the mammography workstation so that it accommodates the actual tasks the mammographer is required to perform. Finally, the proposed system will facilitate the use of other advanced digital technologies, such as teleradiology (providing radiological services remotely) and computer-aided diagnosis (programs that provide additional diagnostic information to radiologists), by providing a digital environment in which computerized tools can help doctors screen more patients at lower cost.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The primary benefits of this system will be the ability to quickly and accurately screen young women under the age of 50; the decreased cost of operating digital systems versus film-based systems; and a unique potential to provide improved access for underserved populations via the use of a mobile digital mammography unit and teleradiology to provide subspecialist diagnosis to poor and minority women. In addition, using computerized tools that are being developed by institutions across the nation, digital mammography can improve the detection of suspicious lesions during screening. The intended result of this research is a test-bed for whole-breast digital mammography that, working with medical industry leaders, will be used to ensure that digital mammography products will be widely available to benefit California women.