Volpara points to breast tomo radiation research

Breast imaging software developer Volpara Solutions said that a paper being presented at this week's American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) annual meeting in Austin, TX, shows that radiation dose from breast tomosynthesis varies based on breast density.

In the study, researchers evaluated volumetric breast density and the mean glandular dose from mammography and tomosynthesis on a patient-specific basis. For dense breasts -- those with a Volpara density grade (analogous to BI-RADS) of 3 and 4 -- the patient-specific dose was the same or even lower for tomosynthesis compared to mammography, according to Volpara.

For low-density breasts, however, the dose was significantly greater for tomosynthesis than for mammography, Volpara said. The paper supports a breast clinic workflow that stratifies individual women according to their volumetric breast density and breast size, according to the vendor.