Spectral (color) mammography shows promising diagnostic benefits for breast cancer, according to PACS and digital mammography developer Sectra.
The company touted results from a study published online in Radiology at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna.
The study used Sectra's photon counting MicroDose mammography system to perform single-shot spectral imaging. Photon counting technology enabled the detection of photons with different energies and colors in a single x-ray exposure, instead of the multiple exposures needed by other technologies, according to Sectra.
The spectral data allow clinicians to determine the tissue type of the breast by the measured photon energies, which could lead to higher cancer detection accuracy.











![A normal mammogram confirmed by three-year radiologic follow-up illustrates reader-marked regions of interest (ROIs) during (A) unaided (round 1) and (B) artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted (round 2) reading. Each colored dot represents an ROI for recall by a human reader. Readers could mark more than one ROI per case, represented by multiple dots of the same color. During AI-assisted reading, the AI system displayed three visible prompts: two with suspicion of malignancy scores of 35% (left mediolateral oblique [L MLO] and craniocaudal [L CC]) and one with a suspicion of malignancy score of 10% (right craniocaudal [R CC]), shown as polygonal overlays. Without AI, six of 10 readers (60%) marked a false-positive ROI. With AI assistance, this fell to two of 10 (20%). R MLO = right mediolateral oblique.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/2026-07-14-radiology-mammogram-ai-auto-bias.H0bYO8QlWs.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=112&q=70&w=112)






