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Clinically Proven Technology Enhances Breast Cancer Detection, Improves Accuracy

Navicent Health recently announced that they have added the latest development in the fight against breast cancer – iCAD’s Profound AI for digital breast tomosyntheses (DBT), also known as 3D mammography – to their Mammography Program. ProFound AI for DBT was the first artificial intelligence (AI) software for DBT to be FDA-cleared.

DBT, also called three-dimensional (3-D) mammography, is an advanced form of breast imaging, or mammography, that uses a low-dose x-ray system and computer reconstructions to create three-dimensional images of the breasts. Navicent Health was one of the first health systems in the state to adopt DBT in 2016 and has since been able to provide more accurate images for the early detection and treatment of breast cancer.

Unlike traditional two-dimensional mammograms, DBT sweeps in a slight arc over the breast, taking hundreds of images of the breast tissue. A computer then uses these images to produce a layered 3D
image of the breast tissue. This 3D image provides greater detail and allows the radiologist to see within the breast layer by layer to find cancer cells earlier than ever before.

While DBT provides more information for clinicians compared to 2D mammography, the vast number of images can be complex for radiologists to read. By introducing Profound AI, Navicent Health is
addressing the complexities of reading 3D mammography exams.

Trained with one of the largest available DBT datasets, ProFound AI rapidly and accurately analyzes each DBT image, or slice, and provides radiologists with key information that assists in clinical decision-making and improving reading efficiency. Clinical data from a large reader study showed ProFound AI for DBT improved radiologist sensitivity by eight percent, reduced the rate of false positives and unnecessary patient recalls by 7.2 percent, and slashed reading time for radiologists by 52.7 percent.1

Every 3D mammogram performed at Navicent Health is now processed with Profound AI, providing improved analysis and allowing radiologists to read exams more efficiently and consistently.

“The integration of Profound AI into our mammography program offers our patients the best chance at
early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Streamlining and standardizing the analysis of a study with Profound AI ultimately ensures greater care for our patients,” says Tom Oliver, MD, President of Hospitals and Clinics for Navicent Health.

“Navicent Health is one of iCAD’s ‘Centers of Excellence,’ as the facility also offers breast intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) with iCAD’s Xoft® Axxent® Electronic Brachytherapy (eBx®) System®,” says Michael Klein, Chairman and CEO of iCAD. “ProFound AI is clinically proven to help clinicians detect cancers sooner, when they may be more easily treated; the Xoft System offers a one-day treatment option that allows select early-stage breast cancer patients to replace weeks of daily radiation with one targeted dose of
radiation, delivered at the time of surgery. Paired together, ProFound AI and Xoft are powerful solutions in the fight against breast cancer that can help women transition from ‘cancer discovery’ to ‘cancer recovery’ more swiftly, with fewer side effects and overall improved quality of life.”


  1. 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 via https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ryai.2019180096

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