A number of recent studies confirm what radiologists are seeing worldwide; digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) plus synthesized mammography (SM) is detecting more early-stage cancers than full-field digital mammography (FFDM).
Most recently, the summary from a study from a group of Italian researchers found that “digital breast tomosynthesis at the first round and at repeat screening depicted a higher proportion of stage I cancers than screening with digital mammography.” The study included nearly35,000 women who underwent repeat screenings, so the sample size being so large makes this study stand out.
Just as in studies before it, DBT did well on the initial screening round. Throw in the combination of the SM technology and there is a boost in effectiveness. In the Italian study, they came to their findings by splitting the patients into two groups, sending one segment in for a second round of DB+SM and the other group went in for FFDM screenings.
The Rise of DBT
In some areas, DBT is still considered an “emerging standard of care” for breast imaging, while in other areas, it has already been established as the standard. DBT generates far more images per exam, which is part of the reason for its success, but it also presents storage opportunities for some providers who have historically struggled with storing and accessing images.
This is more of a problem in rural areas where resources, including money, are not as abundant. Critical access hospitals can be burdened by the influx of data generated by DBT, but it’s not an issue when partnering with a cloud-based vendor that provides storage via the cloud.
With cloud-based radiology technology on your side, there is no longer an issue regarding physical space in your facility where servers must reside and be upgraded/added to if they’re going to handle the increased amount of data. And that’s just one of the perks with going to a cloud-based vendor to handle your image storage needs.
Other advantages include vendor neutral archiving technology, which provides roadblock-free access to your images, and not just for you but to other healthcare professionals that are also caring for your patients.
Partner With a Trusted Vendor
At OffSite Image Management, we’ve developed technology that has been called the best mammography viewing solutions in the U.S. Our approach is to provide common image processing functions for mammography, ultrasound, CT, MRI and DBT. We have developed tools that allow users to make comparison measurements and much more.
When you partner with OffSite, you get the following capabilities:
- Mammography CAD support of virtually any vendor
- Reference lines between MG and US
- Tomosynthesis cine + MIP creation
- Reverence lines between MLO and CC images
There is much more to learn about with our MAMMO technology, so contact us today and let’s talk about how we can boost your level of care while improving your workflow.