At ECR in Vienna last week, software solutions to improve patient care may have dominated the exhibition floor, but there were some solutions that aim to re-imagine the way physicians acquire medical images altogether. Among them was a Cone Beam Breast CT scanner on display at the Canon booth.

The device builds upon the imaging benefits of CT while limiting the dose exposure to the patient's healthy tissue and organs with a design that is specific for imaging the breast. The X-ray tube rotates 360 degrees around the breast, which the patient places into a cup, to capture the images while delivering a quarter of the dose compared to conventional CT.

The resulting 3-D images may help detect tumors early on, which considerably increases the chances of survival. For breast cancer that is treated while remaining localized, the five-year survival rate is estimated around 98.6 percent, according to a video from Canon.
While the CT system negates the need for uncomfortable or painful compression that is required with mammography exams, it is also capable of performing mammo if the condition physician thinks it's indicated for the patient.

Globally, breast cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent, with U.S. cancer statistics stating one in eight women will be affected by the disease in their lifetime.

Canon had previously unveiled the system last October at Canon Expo in Paris, where it was featured as a 'future' technology that the company had intentions of designing and ultimately marketing. At present, the device is still not regulated for commercial use, but at least one other company already has a similar product on the market.

Last year, Koning received FDA approval for its own 3-D cone beam breast CT, KBCT, which it stated was the first such product to be approved for the U.S. market.

"This FDA approval represents a major step forward for breast imaging and women's health care," said Ruola Ning, PhD, Koning's President and Founder, a pioneer and leading expert in Cone Beam CT Technology and sole inventor of cone beam breast CT technology. "KBCT represents a revolutionary advancement in breast cancer diagnosis. Breast cancer is a growing worldwide women's health issue impacting hundreds of thousands of women. We are very proud to now be able to offer our technology to benefit women here in the United States."

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