Volpara Solutions Launches Two Quantitative Breast Imaging Tools to Work with its Globally Used, Multi-Vendor VolparaDensity Volumetric Breast Density Software

Vienna, Austria (PRWEB) March 07, 2014

Volpara Solutions today announced the launch of VolparaAnalytics and VolparaDose, two new quantitative breast imaging software tools built on the Volpara algorithm which enables the generation of volumetric measurements, including density, patient specific dose, and applied pressure. The Company is showcasing the expanded suite of breast imaging software tools for the first time, here at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) meeting, March 6-10, 2014. (ECR2014 - First level gallery, booth 619).

Cleared by the FDA, HealthCanada, the TGA and CE-marked, VolparaDensity is used globally 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.

"My nurses and colleagues find VolparaDensity easy to use with minimal training. We use it to objectively determine high density before performing breast ultrasound screening. In tandem, my colleagues in gynecology are finding it interesting to use the volumetric measurements to follow hormonal and anti-hormonal therapy,” said Professor André Grivegnée, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium.

VolparaAnalytics assists in quality assurance by monitoring and recording critical elements of the breast imaging process, including mammography, tomosynthesis and technologist performance. The software generates key imaging performance metrics to help understand the performance of technologists, readers and mammography machines and presents the information inside an easy-to-use dashboard.

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, breast screening programs can now evaluate individual and regional differences in screening performance in the context of volumetric breast density. In research being presented this week at ECR, researchers from the DENSE trial will showcase results that suggest a geographical variation in mammographic density distribution is present in the Netherlands, which would support structural assessment of breast density within the screening programme,” said Ralph Highnam, CEO of Volpara Solutions.

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. We are presenting research this week which 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,” added Dr. Highnam.

About Volpara Solutions
Founded to enable radiologists to give women the most accurate information possible regarding their breast health, Volpara Solutions is the wholly owned sales and marketing arm of Matakina Technology Limited of New Zealand. Matakina’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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