NASHUA, N.H., Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iCAD, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICAD), a global medical technology leader providing innovative cancer detection and therapy solutions, today announced a new development and commercial collaboration agreement with Solis Mammography, the largest independent provider of breast screening and diagnostic services in the U.S. This collaboration will focus on using mammography to define cardiovascular risk, a new application that could identify millions of women at risk for heart disease using data obtained from their mammogram. As such, this project will result in a powerful AI solution that will quantify the presence of breast arterial calcifications in a mammogram to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

“With heart disease being the number one killer among women in the U.S.,i this collaboration marks the initiation of a historical milestone for iCAD that will not only offer the potential to address a significant unmet need in patient care but also to penetrate a sizeable new market,” said Stacey Stevens, President and CEO of iCAD, Inc. “iCAD and Solis Mammography are aligned in our mutual goal to improve women’s health, and this initiative will further expand our purpose and mission, extending our ability to positively impact women’s lives into other areas outside of cancer detection and treatment.”

The new agreement will build upon the ability of iCAD’s flagship artificial intelligence (AI) solution for breast imaging, ProFound AI®, to both detect and quantify calcifications within the arteries of the breast. Moreover, the model will seek to provide radiologists with an evidence-based risk product that could help shape the trajectory of their patients’ lives and improve their cardiovascular health. ProFound AI is a high-performing breast cancer-detection and workflow solution that is already in the marketplace and implemented throughout a growing number of leading imaging facilities worldwide, including Solis Mammography centers. Trained on one of the largest available datasets, ProFound AI was the first breast AI technology for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), or 3D mammography, to be FDA cleared.
Breast arterial calcifications (BACs) are frequently observed on screening mammography images and were traditionally overlooked as an incidental benign finding. Emerging research suggests, however, that the amount of calcium in the arteries of the breast may correlate with an increased risk of CVD.ii,iiiiv One recent study suggests women with BACs are 23 percent more likely to develop CVD, and are at a 51 percent higher risk for heart disease and stroke than women whose mammograms did not show BACs.iii

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