Innovative technologies such as elastography, shearwave and 3-D have been cause for euphoria in today’s ultrasound world. The most recent development in breast imaging also has the potential to revolutionise this field, because the Automated Volume Breast Scanner (ABVS) is allowing user-independent and reproducible image acquisition for the first time.
White nights in St Petersburg draw in not only romantics, but June in this beautiful city also sees thousands of delegates arrive to attend the many scientific conferences and congresses. Among oncologists, the ‘white nights’ period means another annual scientific conference organised by the NN Petrov Research Institute of Oncology. For its continuing focus on breast cancer, the halls are…
The Italian firm Internazionale Medico Scientifica (IMS) produces highly innovative mammography units under the brand name Giotto. More than 3,500 Giotto systems are now in use in 38 countries, mostly in Europe, America, China and the Far East. Reason enough for European Hospital to visit IMS in Pontecchio Marconi, Bologna.
Standard mammography is the most relevant diagnostic tool to address breast cancer: It shows excellent image quality, a smooth workflow, high connectivity and a very good clinical outcome in terms of sensitivity and specificity. However, there are certain shortcomings to it, especially in dense breast tissue. Over the last 12 years, technical and clinical research is done with contrast-enhanced…
Italian surgeon and oncologist Prof. Dr. Umberto Veronesi, Founder and Scientific Director of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and former National Health Minister (2000 – 2001), is considered to be one of the biggest authorities on breast cancer research of our time. Many breakthrough changings in cancer medicine sustainably go back on his researches, which once earned him also a…
The Swedish IT and medical-technology company Sectra has been awarded a contract to install four MicroDose Mammography units for use in Victoria. The Sectra MicroDose units offer improved or identical image quality at a lower radiation dose than other solutions in the market.
Hologic announced that the Hologic Selenia® digital mammography system with a tungsten tube has received “Mammographic Type Test” certification by the European Reference Organization (EUREF) Council for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services. The Hologic system is the first mammography system of any type to receive this certification.
The German Senology Society has campaigned for women’s breast health for 30 years. Founded in 1980 on the then very novel concept of organ-related, interdisciplinary, scientific cooperation, today a large percentage of the society’s 1,800 members are gynaecologists, radiologists, surgeons and internists.
Siemens Healthcare was presenting its latest solutions for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer at the German Radiology Congress in Berlin. These Breast Care Solutions include a variety of imaging procedures, such as ultrasound, mammography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), supplemented by IT and laboratory diagnostic solutions. Siemens places special focus on the third…
The overall success of MRI in diagnosing breast cancer and the exploding demand for breast MRI, in particular, have caused a scanner shortage in much of Europe. Dr Jean-Pierre Pruvo, Chairman of the French Society of Radiology, recently raised the alarm: ‘We have hundreds of thousands of women in France at risk for breast cancer, yet we do not have the means to provide a breast examination by…
The limitations of mammography are well documented, yet it is still the gold standard in breast cancer detection - particularly due to the positive cost-benefit ratio. Due to prohibitive costs, MRI exams are performed only in well-defined cases. The HIGHREX project (www.highrex.eu) aims to evaluate Single Shot Spectral Imaging (SSSI) technology for use in mamma diagnostics.
Performing pre-operative breast MRI in all women with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) can reduce the need for re-excision, according to a study conducted through two major cancer centres - the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre and the Netherlands Cancer Hospital/Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital.
Within Germany’s mammography screening programme, more than 10 million women, aged between 50 and 69 years, are entitled to a breast examination. It’s taken just over a year for all 94 of the country’s screening units to open their doors to meet this demand comprehensively.
An international survey of women with metastatic breast cancer conducted to evaluate their perceptions of quality of life and what additional medical information and support was needed to help them uncovered an unexpected finding. At a time when patients with incurable cancer are needed to participate in clinical trials, the majority of these women were never advised about any breast cancer…
At ECR 2010 in Vienna, Sectra focus on solutions for increased productivity. Sectra RIS/PACS is a performance solution for wide area radiology. Built on the latest Sectra RapidConnectTM technology, it allows radiologists to work from any location that offers reasonable Internet access and to share images and information between multiple locations with ease.
Digital mammograms deliver an average of 22% less radiation than film mammograms, according to a study partially funded by the National Cancer Institute and published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, Reuters reports. For the study, researchers analyzed the results of the 2005 Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial involving 49,528 women. That trial found that digital mammograms…
New research on deaths from cancer in Europe concludes that the key priority for continuing to reduce mortality is cutting tobacco smoking. The study shows that, while deaths for men from lung cancer in the EU have declined overall, by 17 % from 1995 to 2004, they rose by 27% for women over the same period. It also reveals other significant differences in the mortality between different EU…
More women die of breast cancer in areas where mammography centers are few and far between, according to research by a Medical College of Georgia radiology resident. Breast cancer mortality rates ranged from 34.1 per 100,000 women in counties with no mammography facilities to 27.5 in those with at least one, said Dr. Kandace Klein, a fourth-year radiology resident.
Breast and cervical cancer together account for more than one quarter of all female cancer deaths worldwide, with the majority – including more than 85 % of all cervical cancer deaths – occurring in developing countries. However, a small number of highly effective programs demonstrate that much can be done to reduce risk and increase sustainable access to diagnosis and treatment for these…
Members of a Syracuse University research team in the USA have shown that an obscure phenomenon called stochastic resonance (SR) can improve the clarity of signals in systems such as radar, sonar and even radiography, used in medical clinics to detect signs of breast cancer. It does this by adding carefully selected noise to the system.
Brain tumors are the primary cause of cancer mortality in children. Even if a cure is possible, young patients often suffer tremendously from the stressful treatment which can be harmful to the developing brain. Therefore, there is an urgent need for target-oriented, gentle treatment methods. The most important childhood brain tumors are medulloblastoma, which is diagnosed in approximately one…
Targeted breast ultrasound of suspicious areas of the breast, including lumps, is a safe, reliable and cost-effective alternative to invasive biopsies for women under age 40, according to the findings of two new studies presented.
Scientists are closer to discovering why some people respond to breast cancer radiotherapy better than others, according to Breast Cancer Campaign. Dr Laura Smith, at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Leeds, has been awarded a pilot grant by Breast Cancer Campaign, to study why some types of breast cancers are difficult to destroy with radiotherapy.
Elastography is an effective, convenient technique that, when added to breast ultrasound, helps distinguish cancerous breast lesions from benign results, according to an ongoing study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
At RSNA 2009, Sectra launches a new breast imaging PACS workstation built on Sectra RapidConnect technology. With this next-generation mammography workstation, Sectra focuses on customer productivity and wide area radiology.