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AI to workflow, breast imaging makes advances

by Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | July 09, 2018
Women's Health
AGFA Enterprise Imaging
From the July 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

With facilities continuing to adopt digital breast tomosynthesis, manufacturers are expanding system features and software providers are harnessing deep learning to help radiologists read images more efficiently.

At the same time, companies are releasing new specimen imaging devices to aid surgeons, along with new MR and breast ultrasound systems.

Here’s an overview of what’s new from more than a dozen companies:

AGFA HealthCare
AGFA has made more than 50 changes to its Enterprise Imaging platform in the past year, just focused on breast imaging and improving the user experience and workflow. The changes permit customers to work smarter and faster despite the increasing sophistication of clinical demands, said Bob Craske, the director of enterprise imaging, radiology and clinical applications for AGFA HealthCare.

Included in the key changes are the ability to toggle between 2D and 3D within a viewport, the ability to use a third monitor for ultrasound and MR images and tools that allow users to easily drag and drop digital breast tomosynthesis 2D data into a viewport with 3D functionality for rapid image processing. These changes deliver a much smoother and easier workflow to navigate complex studies, Craske said.

AGFA has worked closely with its customers, both academic and non-academic facilities, to make the improvements, Craske said.

"There are a lot of nuances in breast imaging that can make CT and MR look like child's play, even as complex as they can be,” Craske said. "We added simplified navigation tools for breast imaging radiologists, to make it easier for them to adjust their display, their visualization. Even something as simple as one less mouse click. We're continuously adding new tools for productivity and clinical efficiency. Coupling these functional changes with the rules-based workflow engine employed by Enterprise Imaging brings a new and positive dynamic to the market.”

Carestream
Carestream Vue Mammo Workstation DBT
Carestream recently released customized user preferences for its Vue Mammo Workstation.

Thierry Verstraete, Carestream’s worldwide product line manager for healthcare IT clinical solutions and analytics, said the changes follow the shift to value-based care.

“We worked a lot on the overall user experience of the product,” Verstraete said.

For example, if a radiologist has specific preferences in a display protocol for specific imaging modalities, for example, they can apply the preferences in their user settings.

“For my user profile, if I want the zoom factor to be 120 percent or 150 percent, that is a time saver because now it’s there as a default,” Verstraete said.

There is also the ability to set slab thickness preference for tomosynthesis to better identify lesions.

Working with partners, Carestream released a Workflow Orchestrator that uses algorithms to prioritize workflow. Customers can purchase the module, which is not specific to mammography, separately.

In the future, Carestream is looking to offer more support for automated breast ultrasound and automated breast volume scanner (ABVS) with their own diagnostic viewers.

“At the moment, if a customer wants it, we can accomplish it with desktop integration,” Verstraete said. “It ties back to one workstation philosophy.”

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