“We evaluated other commercially available density measurement tools, but adopted VolparaDensity because it has been proven to provide objective, volumetric measurement," said Dr. Robin Shermis.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) December 02, 2013
Matakina International today announced the launch of VolparaAnalytics and VolparaDose, two new volumetric breast imaging products built upon its globally used, multi-vendor VolparaDensity Volumetric Breast Density Software. The Company is showcasing the expanded suite of breast imaging software tools for the first time, here at the 99th Annual Meeting of the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA), December 1-6, 2013 (RSNA Booth 5925 – South Hall).
Cleared by the FDA, HealthCanada, the TGA and CE-marked, VolparaDensity is used by radiologists to objectively assess density from both digital mammography and tomosynthesis images and help evaluate who might benefit from additional screening. Highly correlated to breast MR assessments, VolparaDensity is a reliable tool which automatically generates an objective, automatic measurement of volumetric breast density and a FDA cleared BI-RADS breast density category. To date, more than 2 million women have had their volumetric breast density analyzed using VolparaDensity.
“We evaluated other commercially available density measurement tools, but we adopted VolparaDensity because it has been proven to provide objective, volumetric measurement that demonstrates to payors that we have a consistent, standardized approach to density assessment and supplemental imaging. This is also very important to reassure women that they have been thoroughly assessed and moved to the imaging tool best suited to improve the early detection of cancer, based on their breast density and individual risk factors,” said Robin Shermis, MD, MPH, Medical Director, ProMedica Breast Care Center.
Introduced at the recent ARRS Breast Imaging Symposium, VolparaAnalytics assists in quality assurance by monitoring and recording critical elements of the breast imaging process, including mammography, tomosynthesis and technologist performance. The software then generates key imaging performance metrics to help understand the performance of technologists, readers and mammography machines.
For each image received, VolparaAnalytics automatically extracts information about the x-ray physics parameters used, records mammography and technologist identifiers, and computes various novel metrics from that data, including volumetric breast density and pressure. Real-time alerts and reports can demonstrate, for example, whether one technologist is compressing too much, or if one mammography unit is operating differently to the others. This comparative information can help determine whether additional training or re-calibration is required.
A study recently published in the British Journal of Radiology established that there is a wide variation in compression force and breast thicknesses for the same patient when they are imaged by different technologists. Clinical implications of this range from variations in dose exposure to potential variations in image quality and lesion visibility. In another recent study recently published in Radiology, researchers questioned “the utility of a universal recall rate goal and suggest that targets have to be adjusted on the basis of local population factors.” With VolparaAnalytics, clinics can now consider their recall rates in the context of knowing their volumetric context. For example, a particular site might have far more recalls than another because the patient population at that site is far denser. Similarly, a radiologist who primarily reads fatty mammograms from a more obese neighborhood may seem to outperform another radiologist whose patients are predominately younger or slimmer women with dense breasts.
VolparaDose moves away from manufacturer-specific radiation dose estimates to using a standard mean glandular dose algorithm along with the patient-specific volumetric breast density to give a better estimate of the dose absorbed by the specific breast. The dose can be inserted directly into patient letters on compatible mammography reporting systems, and sent to enterprise wide dose tracking systems. Currently, mammography systems generate a Mean Glandular Dose (MGD) based on an assumption of a homogeneous mixture of fat and fibroglandular tissue in standard proportions.
“We all know it’s critical to keep radiation dose as low as possible whilst retaining high image quality, and yet the current dose estimates in mammography may significantly under or over-estimate the actual patient dose because they generate calculations based on assumption of a homogeneous mixture of fat and fibroglandular tissue in standard, non-personalized proportions. Recent research demonstrates that it is possible to improve the personalization of radiation dose estimation, which may, in turn, allow for better optimization of radiation dose in breast screening, both in mammography and tomosynthesis,” said Ralph Highnam, CEO of Matakina International.
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About Matakina
Founded to enable radiologists to give women the most accurate information possible regarding their breast health, Matakina International, Limited is the wholly owned sales and marketing arm of Matakina Technology Limited of New Zealand. Volpara’s founders and Board of Directors includes John Hood, PhD, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, UK; Ralph Highnam, PhD, former CEO of Mirada Solutions, one of the University of Oxford’s most successful spin-outs of recent times and co-author of the seminal book Mammographic Image Analysis; and Professor Sir Michael Brady, a serial entrepreneur who recently retired from the University of Oxford where he was Professor of Information Technology for 25 years.
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