He will continue adding cases to the ANN, which he said has the capability of learning as it gathers information. In another study, Hye-Young Choi, MD, of the department of diagnostic radiology, Ewha Women's University, Seoul, South Korea, showed that Doppler images, a type of ultrasound, could dramatically reveal features of tumors, especially branching aspects of malignant lesions. Her analysis indicated that lesions on the periphery of the breast were more likely to be benign, while branching tumors highlighted by the color Doppler were more likely to be malignant. Whether color Doppler would fit into diagnostic use remains to be sorted out, she said. Also, researchers from Germany reported use of the experimental ultrasound contrast agent Levovist to help doctors distinguish types of breast tumors.
Contrast agents help highlight areas of different density in the body.
Jens Uwe Blohmer, MD, from the Frauenklinik Charite in Berlin, administered Levovist by vein to 22 patients with breast cancer and to 11 women with benign breast lesions. By looking at the intensity of the signal between healthy tissue and the lesion in question, Blohmer said doctors might be able to determine whether the lesion is malignant. In his experiments, the greater the time to peak brightness, the more likely the tumor was benign. The average time to peak brightness in benign lesions was 42 seconds, compared with 26 seconds for malignant tumors. All rights reserved.