Hologic and
Advanced Image Enhancement, Inc.
teamed up in this
breast cancer imaging study
Advanced Image Enhancement, Inc.
teamed up in this
breast cancer imaging study
AIE's Image Enhancement Technology Shows Promise in Breast Cancer Screening
March 31, 2006
by Robert Garment, Executive Editor
Providence, RI (April 3)--Radiologists at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts today released findings from a breast cancer research study designed to evaluate the use of Advanced Image Enhancement, Inc.'s (AIE) software for examining Regions Of Interest (ROI) with Hologic's Lorad SeleniaTM digital mammography system. Leveraging advanced technology for locating and detecting undersea mines for the U.S. Navy, AIE tailored the approach for breast cancer image enhancement.
The study reported that the AIE software allowed the radiologist to reach an opinion with more confidence in 20%-70% of the cases studied, depending upon the radiologist. When asked to rate AIE technology on the ability of the software to improve the conspicuity and detail of calcifications, the radiologist participating in the study rated the software superior in 88% of the cases studied. The report concluded that AIE technology provided a significant advantage for improving clarity of structures in dense breast tissue.
Hologic's Lorad Selenia digital mammography system
and AIE's software
produced this enhanced image
The researchers compared the ROI of a magnified Selenia image with the corresponding magnified ROI of an AIE-enhanced Selenia image for both views (one cranial-caudal (CC) and one mediolateral-oblique (MLO)) of the breast for 50 women presenting with suspicious abnormalities.
"Providing physicians with the technology to see more detail with better clarity is quite valuable," stated Alan Semine, M.D., the study's chief investigator. Dr. Semine is Medical Director of The Auerbach Breast Center and Chief of Breast Imaging at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. "Breast cancer detection still poses many challenges to the physician community. This study highlights the fact that complementary technologies can be very effective in improving the display of visual information inherent in digital mammograms and can ultimately help physicians detect breast cancer more effectively."
The study involved researchers from Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Faulkner Hospital all in Massachusetts. The study was funded by Aid for Cancer Research and Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX). Hologic is partnering with AIE to develop the algorithms for the digital mammography market.
"The results of this study further validate that AIE image enhancement can be a valuable tool in helping physicians more accurately to detect breast cancer," stated Michael Duarte, CEO of AIE. "This study is a tremendous step forward in our research and development activities. It is our goal to build upon this success in future studies, and highlight our technology and its utility to those physicians. We are also pleased to have partnered with Hologic on this study. Hologic is a world leader in digital mammography. We're looking forward to working with Hologic in bringing this product to commercialization.
"The choice of a particular route to going digital in mammography is a function of many things - image quality, patient comfort, workflow, connectivity, economics..." said Rob Cascella, President and COO of Hologic, a sponsor of the Advanced Image Enhancement project. "For mammographers the most important variable is the quality of the digital images. Finding breast cancer early and correctly diagnosing the problem is what mammography is all about. By helping radiologists see the region of interest better in patients with dense breasts, the AIE software has the potential to be beneficial in the early and accurate detection of breast cancer."
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women except for skin cancer.1 It is second only to lung cancer as the most common cause of death among women. According to the U.S. Cancer Statistics: 2002 Incidence and Mortality report, which includes incidence data for about 93% of the U.S. population and mortality data for the entire country, more than 180,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, and more than 41,000 died from the disease. In 2004, an estimated 215,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women. Seventy-five percent of all diagnosed cases of breast cancer are among women aged 50 years or older.
Mammography is the best available method to detect breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stage-- an average of 1 to 4 years before a woman can feel a lump. Women aged 40 years or older should have a screening mammogram every 1 to 2 years.
About Advance Image Enhancement, Inc.
Advanced Image Enhancement (AIE), the Providence, Rhode Island based software company, produces image-processing tools for the medical imaging industry. AIE's core technology evolved from proprietary United States Navy signal and image processing software utilized for the detection, classification and localization of undersea mines. AIE holds the exclusive license to this technology from the Navy. The Company is utilizing the Navy technology as the baseline to develop image processing algorithms for enhancing digital mammograms with plans to expand into applications in chest x-rays and orthopedics and other image modalities including ultrasound and MRI.
The study reported that the AIE software allowed the radiologist to reach an opinion with more confidence in 20%-70% of the cases studied, depending upon the radiologist. When asked to rate AIE technology on the ability of the software to improve the conspicuity and detail of calcifications, the radiologist participating in the study rated the software superior in 88% of the cases studied. The report concluded that AIE technology provided a significant advantage for improving clarity of structures in dense breast tissue.
Hologic's Lorad Selenia digital mammography system
and AIE's software
produced this enhanced image
The researchers compared the ROI of a magnified Selenia image with the corresponding magnified ROI of an AIE-enhanced Selenia image for both views (one cranial-caudal (CC) and one mediolateral-oblique (MLO)) of the breast for 50 women presenting with suspicious abnormalities.
"Providing physicians with the technology to see more detail with better clarity is quite valuable," stated Alan Semine, M.D., the study's chief investigator. Dr. Semine is Medical Director of The Auerbach Breast Center and Chief of Breast Imaging at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. "Breast cancer detection still poses many challenges to the physician community. This study highlights the fact that complementary technologies can be very effective in improving the display of visual information inherent in digital mammograms and can ultimately help physicians detect breast cancer more effectively."
The study involved researchers from Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Faulkner Hospital all in Massachusetts. The study was funded by Aid for Cancer Research and Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX). Hologic is partnering with AIE to develop the algorithms for the digital mammography market.
"The results of this study further validate that AIE image enhancement can be a valuable tool in helping physicians more accurately to detect breast cancer," stated Michael Duarte, CEO of AIE. "This study is a tremendous step forward in our research and development activities. It is our goal to build upon this success in future studies, and highlight our technology and its utility to those physicians. We are also pleased to have partnered with Hologic on this study. Hologic is a world leader in digital mammography. We're looking forward to working with Hologic in bringing this product to commercialization.
"The choice of a particular route to going digital in mammography is a function of many things - image quality, patient comfort, workflow, connectivity, economics..." said Rob Cascella, President and COO of Hologic, a sponsor of the Advanced Image Enhancement project. "For mammographers the most important variable is the quality of the digital images. Finding breast cancer early and correctly diagnosing the problem is what mammography is all about. By helping radiologists see the region of interest better in patients with dense breasts, the AIE software has the potential to be beneficial in the early and accurate detection of breast cancer."
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women except for skin cancer.1 It is second only to lung cancer as the most common cause of death among women. According to the U.S. Cancer Statistics: 2002 Incidence and Mortality report, which includes incidence data for about 93% of the U.S. population and mortality data for the entire country, more than 180,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, and more than 41,000 died from the disease. In 2004, an estimated 215,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women. Seventy-five percent of all diagnosed cases of breast cancer are among women aged 50 years or older.
Mammography is the best available method to detect breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stage-- an average of 1 to 4 years before a woman can feel a lump. Women aged 40 years or older should have a screening mammogram every 1 to 2 years.
About Advance Image Enhancement, Inc.
Advanced Image Enhancement (AIE), the Providence, Rhode Island based software company, produces image-processing tools for the medical imaging industry. AIE's core technology evolved from proprietary United States Navy signal and image processing software utilized for the detection, classification and localization of undersea mines. AIE holds the exclusive license to this technology from the Navy. The Company is utilizing the Navy technology as the baseline to develop image processing algorithms for enhancing digital mammograms with plans to expand into applications in chest x-rays and orthopedics and other image modalities including ultrasound and MRI.