iCAD, Inc. recently received the “Best New Radiology Solution” Award for the ProFound AI™ platform in
the 2019 MedTech Breakthrough Awards Program. The program recognizes the top companies and solutions in the global health and medical technology industries; this year, over 3,500 nominations were considered from more than 15 countries around the world.
ProFound AI for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is the first and only FDA-cleared 3D tomosynthesis technology using artificial intelligence (AI). The technology was designed to address an emerging challenge in the field of radiology as technology evolves, and is clinically proven to enhance cancer detection, reduce unnecessary patient recalls, and slash radiologists’ reading time in half.
Digital Breast Tomosynthesis: New Challenges and Solutions
DBT is rapidly replacing 2D mammography in breast cancer screening due to the clinical value it offers to patients, including improved cancer detection rates and reduced rates of false positives. However, it substantially increases the daily workload for clinicians, as DBT produces hundreds of images for each person, versus 2D mammography, which typically produces four images per case. This extensive amount of data can increase reading time for radiologists reading DBT exams by almost two-fold, presenting workload challenges and increased potential for reader fatigue.[i]
ProFound AI was designed to address this challenge by reducing reader time and enhancing clinical performance. The software rapidly and accurately analyzes each DBT image, or slice, detecting malignant lesions with unparalleled accuracy. It highlights areas of suspicion and provides unique Certainty of Finding and Case Scores, which assist radiologists in making clinical decisions and prioritizing caseloads. Featuring the latest in deep-learning artificial intelligence, the platform also allows for continuously improved performance via ongoing updates.
Positive clinical results from a large reader study involving ProFound AI were recently published in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence. The study involved 24 radiologists reading 260 DBT cases, both with and without ProFound AI, and concluded that the concurrent use of ProFound AI for DBT increased sensitivity by 8 percent, reduced the rate of false positives and unnecessary recalls by 7.2 percent, and decreased reading time for radiologists by 52.7 percent.[ii]
Promising Technology Poised to Make an Impact
The use of AI is rapidly growing in adoption in many areas of the healthcare industry, and the field of breast cancer detection is one that specifically stands to benefit as DBT continues to become more widely available.
ProFound AI addresses current challenges radiologists face and is poised to make a significant impact on patient care and outcomes in the years ahead.
ProFound AI for DBT was FDA cleared, CE marked, and Health Canada licensed in 2018. For more information, visit https://www.icadmed.com/profoundai.html.
[i] Hoffmeister, J. (2018). Artificial Intelligence for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis – Reader Study Results. [White paper]. Accessed August 6, 2019 via https://www.icadmed.com/assets/dmm253-reader-studies-results-rev-a.pdf
[ii] 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 on August 6, 2019 via https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ryai.2019180096