iCAD, Inc. recently received the “Best
New Radiology Solution” Award for the ProFound AI™ platform in
the 2019 MedTech Breakthrough Awards Program. The program recognizes the top
companies and solutions in the global health and medical technology industries;
this year, over 3,500 nominations were considered from more than 15 countries
around the world.
ProFound AI for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is the first
and only FDA-cleared 3D tomosynthesis technology using artificial intelligence
(AI). The technology was designed to address an emerging
challenge in the field of radiology as technology evolves, and is clinically
proven to enhance cancer detection, reduce unnecessary patient recalls, and slash
radiologists’ reading time in half.
Digital
Breast Tomosynthesis: New Challenges and Solutions
DBT is rapidly replacing 2D mammography in breast cancer screening
due to the clinical value it offers to patients, including improved cancer
detection rates and reduced rates of false positives. However, it substantially
increases the daily workload for clinicians, as DBT produces hundreds of images
for each person, versus 2D mammography, which typically produces four images
per case. This extensive amount of data can increase reading time for radiologists reading DBT exams by almost
two-fold, presenting workload challenges and increased potential for reader
fatigue.[i]
ProFound AI was designed
to address this challenge by reducing reader time and enhancing clinical
performance. The software rapidly and accurately analyzes each DBT image, or
slice, detecting malignant lesions with unparalleled accuracy. It highlights areas
of suspicion and provides unique Certainty of Finding and Case Scores, which assist
radiologists in making clinical decisions and prioritizing caseloads. Featuring
the latest in deep-learning artificial intelligence, the platform also allows
for continuously improved performance via ongoing updates.
Positive clinical results from a large reader study involving
ProFound AI were recently published in Radiology:
Artificial Intelligence. The study involved 24 radiologists reading 260 DBT
cases, both with and without ProFound AI, and concluded that the concurrent use
of ProFound AI for DBT increased sensitivity by 8 percent, reduced the rate of
false positives and unnecessary recalls by 7.2 percent, and decreased reading
time for radiologists by 52.7 percent.[ii]
Promising
Technology Poised to Make an Impact
The use of AI is rapidly growing in adoption in many areas of the
healthcare industry, and the field of breast cancer detection is one that
specifically stands to benefit as DBT continues to become more widely available.
ProFound AI
addresses current challenges radiologists face and is poised to make a
significant impact on patient care and outcomes in the years ahead.
ProFound AI for DBT was FDA cleared, CE marked, and Health Canada
licensed in 2018. For more information, visit https://www.icadmed.com/profoundai.html.
[i] Hoffmeister, J. (2018). Artificial
Intelligence for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis – Reader Study Results. [White
paper]. Accessed August 6, 2019 via https://www.icadmed.com/assets/dmm253-reader-studies-results-rev-a.pdf
[ii] Conant, E.
et al. (2019). Improving Accuracy and Efficiency with Concurrent Use of
Artificial Intelligence for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis. Radiology: Artificial
Intelligence. 1 (4). Accessed on August 6, 2019 via https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ryai.2019180096