Sigmascreening is touting the results of a study that focused on the impact of pressure in breast compression on screening outcomes at RSNA 2016 in Chicago.
The study, presented by Nico Karssemeijer, PhD, from Nijmegen, the Netherlands, found that breast compression with intermediate target pressure may improve breast cancer detection rates. The researchers wanted to determine breast cancer screening outcomes in relation to the compression pressure applied during mammography. After adjusting for confounders, they found that pressure around 75 mmHg (± 5 mmHg) showed the best breast cancer detection rate and the best positive predictive value when compared with lower and higher compression groups.
Sensitivity decreased with increasing pressure, resulting in a higher interval cancer rate in the group with the highest compression pressure. If too much or too little pressure is applied, this may increase the number of interval cancers and decrease the positive predictive value (PPV), the researchers concluded. The data support the introduction and use of pressure-guided compression, according to the vendor.










![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)






