Major independent study shows Transpara® AI by ScreenPoint Medical can reduce radiologists’ workload up to 70% for both 2D and 3D mammography


Dr Marina Alvarez, Dr Sara Romero, Dr Esperanza Elias and Dr Jose Luis Raya

This saving is so important as there is a global shortage of radiologists, with workload also on the increase due to the introduction of new imaging techniques such as 3D breast tomosynthesis.

A new and independent study led by the renowned Dr Alvarez Benito at the Hospital Universitario Reina Sofia in Cordoba shows that Transpara breast AI can help reduce radiologists’ workload by up to 70% in both 2D and 3D mammography, without reducing the quality of the screening program.

The peer-reviewed study that was published on Tuesday in the Radiology journal (https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.2021203555) is the first large-scale evaluation of AI for 3D mammography in an independent screening cohort. The authors also found that using Transpara AI to transition from 2D to 3D mammography (digital breast tomosynthesis) screening would yield a 30% reduction in workload, a 25% improvement in sensitivity and a 27% reduction in the screening recall rate. This could have huge impact for screening programs and healthcare systems around the globe and potentially help radiologists clear backlogs and delays caused by Covid.

The incidence of breast cancer is increasing worldwide but at the same time many countries are reporting a shortage of radiologists. Furthermore, many countries are challenged with the backlog of diagnosed cancer cases due to Covid-19 screening delays. Cancer charities and foundations estimate millions of women are waiting for delayed mammograms and thousands will have cancers they do not know about!

Transpara breast care AI was uniquely developed by scientists at ScreenPoint Medical, in collaboration with our clinical partners, and is now in daily in over 120 clinics in 20 countries worldwide. The Cordoba study is the latest in a series of peer reviewed studies to confirm the benefits of Transpara’s unique decision support scoring system which provides increasingly busy radiologists with a ‘second pair of eyes’. The system scores the risk of a cancer being present from one to ten. The higher the number the higher the risk, enabling radiologists to focus on those women facing the highest risk. Finding cancers faster and earlier can help to increase survival rates.

The latest independent research at Cordoba was led by Dr Alvarez Benito.

“With the retrospective analysis of exams from a consecutively collected screening cohort of 15,986 women, we clearly showed that by using Transpara we can significantly reduce workload by up to 70%, without compromising the sensitivity in either 2D or 3D screening. This saving is so important as there is a global shortage of radiologists, with workload also on the increase due to the introduction of new imaging techniques such as 3D breast tomosynthesis.” According to Dr Alvarez Benito, “We are now prospectively implementing Transpara in our screening program and we are very excited to see the results from our prospective trial,” he said.

CEO and co-founder of ScreenPoint Medical, Professor Nico Karssemeijer said, “Our mission at ScreenPoint Medical is to improve breast cancer survival rates by detecting cancers earlier and making treatment more effective and less invasive.

“This important peer reviewed publication is further evidence of the potential and benefits of Transpara breast AI. Transpara now features in 7 independent peer reviewed publications demonstrating accuracy, workload reduction and earlier detection, this is far more than any other system and shows the growing benefits that AI can bring to bear in the fight against breast cancer.”

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