Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Europe: each year 350,000 new cases are diagnosed and each year about 130,000 women die of the disease. At the same time breast cancer is one of the few cancer types with encouraging healing prospects – if detected early.
SECure TRAnsmission, the main aim of a spin-off from the Linköping Institute of Technology, was established in 1978. From this beginning, the Swedish firm Sectra has evolved into one of the world’s leading players in PACS and mammography solutions. Although secure communication systems remains a core business, the medical section has constantly grown since 1988, when Dr Torbjörn Kronander…
It’s digital mammography taken to the next level – or, so to speak, the next dimension as digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) that provides high resolution 3-D imaging. For about two years this exciting technology has promised to become the magic bullet in the early detection of breast cancer, particularly in the dense breast.
Breast cancer screening programmes are helping to reduce the mortality rates of women by finding cancer in its early stages when it is easier to treat. Sweden was one of the first countries in the world to introduce a screening program after succesful clinical trials in the 1980s. However x-ray radiation is also a risk factor for inducing breast cancer, meaning that a low radiation dose is…
Hologic announced the signing of an exclusive partnership agreement with SuperSonic Imagine, S.A., an innovative producer of diagnostic ultrasound technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Hologic will sell, install and service SuperSonic Imagine's Aixplorer ultrasound technology platform to the breast care community in the United States.
Sectra has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan for its unique photon counting mammography system, Sectra MicroDose, with the Product Quality Leadership, Women's Health Imaging Europe 2010 award.
With the greyscale display MS31i2, Totoku has introduced the first 3 Megapixel with ISD Technology. The high resolution display is suitable especially for X-ray diagnosis and thorax images, the company reports, adding: ‘With its high brightness of up to 1500 cd/m² it offers a very long backlight lifetime.’
High resolution radionuclide imaging is a technique increasingly used to detect breast cancers and has already been shown to offer improved diagnosis in many clinical situations. The technique, which will be discussed at RSNA 2010 (28 November to 3 December, Chicago) , is also allowing clinicians to detect previously unknown areas of breast cancer in women with newly-diagnosed disease.
It’s been around for decades, re-emerged in the ’90s and, today, experts see a bright future for tomosynthesis technology. Thus its progress and future developments, plus specialist uses (e.g. breast) will be a particular feature at the Radiological Society of North America scientific assembly and annual meeting in Chicago this year.
Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is a promising new technology that acquires 3-D breast images. The individual images are presented as thin, high-resolution slices, which can be displayed individually or in a dynamic cine mode. Preliminary studies in a clinical setting have demonstrated that this new technology has the potential to improve not only the breast cancer detection but also to reduce…
Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is a promising new technology that acquires 3-dimensional images of the breast. The individual images are presented as thin high-resolution slices that can be displayed individually or in a dynamic cine mode. Preliminary studies in a clinical setting have demonstrated that this new technology has the potential to improve not only the detection of breast cancers…
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…
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.
A study looking at breast cancer patients in England compared to those in Norway and Sweden has highlighted the importance of early detection. The three-country comparison reveals that every year almost 1,000 more lives could be saved in England alone.
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 MVZ RNR Leverkusen Am Gesundheitspark (Germany), part of the RNR MVZ GmbH Association, is one of the most important breast diagnostics centres in the region, treating tens of thousands of patients annually. In line with this full capacity utilisation, the equipment at the practice is of the highest standard. Recently, tomosynthesis was installed, enabling the centre to offer patients the…
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.
First introduced at ECR 2010, Agfa HealthCare’s DX-M is a CR solution able to handle both needle-based detector plates (NIP), as well as standard phosphor plates (PIP). The solution’s ability to read NIP for Mammography requirements as well as NIP for general radiography means that the solution meets a market demand for high quality diagnostic images across needs, and offers potential dose…
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…
Sectra’s RIS/PACS enables workload sharing across multiple sites as well as handling of very large image stacks over strained networks. At this year’s ECR, the company is showing a range of products that further strengthen its cross-enterprise capabilities in radiology and mammography.
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…