Healthcare Industry News: Carestream Health
News Release - November 20, 2007
Confirma Expands Computer-Aided-Detection (CAD) for MRI to Prostate, Assisting in Improved Cancer Detection
Bellevue Company Expands on Its Success in Breast MRIBELLEVUE, Wash.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Confirma®, pioneer and leader in application-specific CAD for MRI, today announced the introduction of CADstream for prostate for improved analysis and reporting of the prostate. The prostate application will offer radiologists comprehensive and clinically valuable tools for improved quality, standardization and efficiency of MRI studies. CADstream for prostate will be presented at the upcoming Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting, the largest medical meeting in the world and the pre-eminent venue for introducing new technologies for radiology (November 25-27, Chicago). At the meeting, the company will also introduce the next generation of CADstream for breast MRI.
“Over the past five years, CADstream for breast MRI has received broad-scale acceptance from the women’s imaging community,” said Wayne Wager, president and CEO, Confirma, Inc. “We believe that prostate research studies and ongoing development with our clinical sites will help establish CAD within the men’s imaging community. CAD provides physicians with valuable tools to improve the detection of cancer and treatment planning.”
“CADstream for breast has already proven itself to be indispensable in our practice,” said Dr. A. Joseph Borelli Jr., president and medical director, MRI at Belfair in Bluffton, SC. “Now, CADstream for prostate is showing great promise, allowing us to confidently map disease within the gland for minimally invasive treatment planning.”
Prostate Health and MRI
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. The need for prostate health management is growing rapidly, due to the increasing awareness that early detection will lead to long-term survival rates. MR imaging is recognized as a sensitive tool for the noninvasive evaluation of prostate cancer. This emerging imaging modality is showing proven sensitivity for staging and determining extent of disease. Prostate MRI is a less invasive procedure using imaging, rather than biopsy first, and enables the physician to target areas of the body more precisely for biopsy planning. One of the key advantages of MRI technology is its ability to detect tissue areas likely to be cancerous based on how quickly they “enhance” or take in blood containing a contrast agent, and how quickly they “wash out” – a procedure known as “dynamic contrast MRI.”
“CAD systems like Confirma’s CADstream are what make dynamic contrast MRI possible and practical,” explained Dr. Borelli. “You need an analysis of the initial enhancement and washout of the contrast in all areas of the prostate gland, particularly the peripheral zone. This is almost impossible to do manually, while CAD does it on pixel-by-pixel basis for the whole gland.”
CADstream improves quality, standardization and efficiency of prostate MRI examinations. Confirma has built on its extensive experience in breast MRI to design the new application CADstream specifically for prostate MRI.
“Prior to CADstream, it took me 45 minutes to interpret a breast MRI, which is now down to an average of 15 minutes,” stated Dr. Borelli. “I am seeing similar efficiency improvements in prostate.”
Advances in Breast MRI
Confirma’s advances in CAD technology help imaging programs improve confidence in MRI and meet the rapidly increasing demand for studies, due in part to recent published clinical studies supporting breast MRI for increased breast cancer detection and the American Cancer Society’s March 2007 recommendation that women with a 20-25 percent or greater lifetime risk of breast cancer undergo an annual MRI in addition to mammography.
It is becoming increasingly important to improve the analysis of these complex, time-consuming studies. CADstream is advancing breast MRI by enhancing, standardization and efficiency of studies. The system automates analysis, reporting and interventional planning of studies and promotes standardization with the incorporation of the American College of Radiology’s Breast Imaging Reporting and Database System (BI-RADS®), which guides the breast cancer diagnostic routine and decision-making process. Confirma’s next-generation version of CADstream for breast MRI, to be launched at the RSNA meeting, includes a new customizable BI-RADS-centric user interface that accommodates a variety of user experience levels.
CADstream was first introduced at the RSNA meeting in 2002 and is currently in use by thousands of physician users and hundreds of breast MRI programs. The July 2007 issue of Radiology published research from the University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance indicating that CAD for breast MRI may improve standardization, and the analysis of benign and malignant lesions. CADstream was the CAD for breast MRI system used in this study.
Confirma supports professional development in MRI and CAD technology through its extensive medical education program, including a newly launched continuing medical education (CME) program for breast MRI through the International Center for Postgraduate Medical Education (ICPME).
About Confirma, Inc.
Confirma develops and markets application-specific CAD systems and accessories for magnetic resonance imaging studies (MRI). CADstream is the standard in CAD for MRI, with more than 800 installations and 2,500 users worldwide. Confirma’s approach to CAD is unique: CADstream is developed with specific tools for each application in order to streamline workflow and standardize study analysis. CADstream automates the analysis and interventional guidance of MRI studies, providing higher quality imaging studies, lower costs for radiology practices and improved communication tools for physicians and patients. In its initial application, CADstream was developed to assist in the analysis, interventional guidance and reporting of breast MRI studies. CADstream can be integrated into any workflow scenario, and is compatible with all MRI scanners and PACS.
Confirma supports professional development in MRI and CAD technology through its extensive medical education program, including a newly launched continuing medical education (CME) program for breast MRI through the International Center for Postgraduate Medical Education (ICPME).
Confirma has established partnerships with companies including GE Healthcare, Philips Medical Systems, Bayer HealthCare, Medipattern, Vital Images and Carestream Health. Confirma has partnered with hundreds of imaging centers and corporate partners worldwide since 2003, helping develop more standardized, high performance breast MRI programs that deliver premium patient care. Confirma Europe GmbH opened operations in Berlin to further develop the European market. Frost & Sullivan recently recognized Confirma with the 2006 Industry Innovation and Advancement Award for the U.S. CAD market. For more information, visit www.confirma.com or call 877-811-2356.
Source: Confirma, Inc
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