First, this study is near and dear to my heart. Digital image processing was one of my specialty areas. I started in regular signal processing, and correctly predicted that digital music would overtake analog. How many of you folks still have turntables? Image processing just takes the mathematics to another dimension over time. I spent my training studying hearts instead of breasts. Same issues; different disease processes.
It's also important to post it here because the women most likely to visit here are the ones most likely to benefit from digital over standard film mammography.
- USA TodayDigital mammograms proved 15% more accurate than standard film X-rays among women under 50, in whom breast cancer is relatively uncommon. Among women with dense breasts and those not yet in menopause, digital mammograms were 11% and 15% better, respectively.
Eventually the standard film mammogram will go the way of the LP and - pretty soon - the standard film camera. It's only a matter of time. Once you digitize the 3-dimensional image, there's so much more you can do with it. And this information can be passed to wherever it needs to go for future use.
Even my present world is changing pretty rapidly. It won't be long before I'm in the world of the electronic medical record.
- Bill