Computer Detection Effective In Spotting Cancer

Anti-Globalism notes a large study out of the UK indicating that computer-aided detection can be as effective at spotting breast cancer as two experts reading the x-rays. Mammograms in Britain are routinely checked by two radiologists or technicians, which is thought to be better than a single review (in the US only a single radiologist reads each mammogram). In a randomized study of 31,000 women, researchers found that a single expert aided by a computer does as well as two pairs of eyes. CAD spotted nearly the same number of cancers, 198 out of 227, compared to 199 for the two readers. "In places like the United States, 'Where single reading is standard practice, computer-aided detection has the potential to improve cancer-detection rates to the level achieved by double reading,' the researchers said."

Comments

Re:WTF? just WTF?

[mikael]

Because you have to *PROVE* with clinical certainty (ie. research studies) that the computer system is as good as an expert under all conditions. A mammogram is a two dimensional monochrome picture of a three-dimensional object. As you are attempting to detect a life-threatening defect using a piece of software, false alarms can be as devastating to the patient as missed detections, and thus have the same lawsuit risks.

Also, this requires the entire hospital to have a digital patient record management system, in order to handle digital X-ray images. Many hospitals and dentists are still using photographic plates and paper records. With the digital system, everything from doctors notes to X-rays, CAT and MRI scans are automatically placed into the patients record when they are generated. The resulting data is then accessible to any consultant or doctor involved with the patient. The new system has the advantage that there is no need to wait for X-ray plates to be developed.