A Major Milestone in the Fight Against Breast Cancer
The Transpara deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) software, which helps radiologists identify breast cancers faster and earlier, has now been used to read over two million mammograms.
Transpara, the only deep learning AI system to be FDA cleared for both 2D and 3D mammograms, is now used by hundreds of radiologists in over 25 countries worldwide.
In the United States, for example, the system is creating enormous interest among both radiologists and academics.
Dr Rachel Brem, Professor of Radiology at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC. said, “I am excited that radiologists are finding more tumors earlier and faster when they use Transpara. It is so important to detect cancer and using Transpara allows for the detection of more and earlier cancers, leading to improved outcomes.”
“3D mammograms are increasingly the gold standard but they do take longer to read. Having Transpara helps to improve accuracy of radiologists, independent of their experience. This will undoubtedly help with the breast imager shortage in the US and this will not only improve cancer care, but decrease the disparity of care with the increase in breast imaging performance of general radiologists.”
One of the first radiologists in the US to install Transpara was Dr Daniel Gurell of UDMI. “I could see the potential benefits of using AI for my practice and for my patients and it was a real success. With each release, the Transpara algorithms are continually getting better and better. I use it all the time and won’t read another 3D mammogram without it!” said Dr Gurell.
The software, which has been developed by scientists at ScreenPoint Medical, in The Netherlands, has created universal interest and its world leading performance has already been the subject of the largest number of peer reviewed papers in breast AI.
The unique Transpara algorithm scores mammograms from one to 10; the higher the score the greater the risk of a cancer being present.
And at a time when breast cancer cases are rising and with the shortage of breast radiologists, Transpara can act as a ‘second pair of eyes’ to support decision making.
Chief Executive and co-founder of ScreenPoint Medical, Professor Nico Karssemeijer, said reaching the two million mammography readings figure was a milestone for the use of artificial intelligence in breast care.
“We may be at a point when the human eye has reached its limits when trying to identify early cancers. Our algorithms are constantly developing and becoming more and more efficient at finding early cancers. It is our best hope of improving survival rates and the reason we set up this company!”
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