Computer-aided detection developer R2 Technology demonstrated the expansion of its CAD technology into virtual colonoscopy at last week’s RSNA meeting.
The Sunnyvale, CA, company also discussed initiatives to integrate its CAD software with PACS networks and to develop a breast imaging workstation that includes imaging from multiple modalities.
R2 built its reputation on CAD for mammography applications, but recently the vendor has been expanding into other areas such as lung screening with CT. Virtual colonoscopy marks the third anatomic region the vendor's CAD systems will be examining.
R2 has licensed algorithms for the detection of polyps and masses in virtual colonoscopy that were developed at the University of Chicago, a pioneer in CAD research. Clinical results indicate that the university’s virtual colonoscopy algorithms show promise for finding polyps larger than 5 mm with high accuracy and a small number of false positives, according to Hiroyuki Yoshida, Ph.D., an assistant professor of radiology who leads the university’s colon CAD research group with Dr. Abraham Dachman.
The investigational software for virtual colonoscopy will be designed for integration into R2's ImageChecker CT CAD system. The ImageChecker CT display workstation is a combination of dedicated software and hardware for radiologists to review multislice CT exams and highlight suspicious lung nodules. The software was also demonstrated at the RSNA booths of Voxar, Vital Images, and E-Z-EM.
ImageChecker CT LN-500 has 510(k) clearance and enables users to click on lesions that a radiologist has already marked as suspicious and analyze them for potential characteristics that might indicate they are cancerous. A more advanced version of the software, ImageChecker CT LN-1000, automatically scans CT lung studies and flags suspicious lesions for additional review. LN-1000 requires a premarket approval (PMA) ruling from the FDA, which R2 believes could be forthcoming in the first quarter of 2004.
Also at the RSNA show, R2 announced that it is developing a multimodality breast imaging review workstation in collaboration with MeVis Breast Care of Bremen, Germany. The workstation would be designed for both soft-copy reading and CAD review, and would be free of proprietary image processing protocols and enhancements, according to the company. The workstation should be ready for market in early 2004
R2 received several product clearances from the FDA prior to the RSNA meeting. The agency cleared the company’s ImageChecker DX and LX systems, which are lower-cost workstations designed for breast clinics with a lower volume of mammograms. The FDA also cleared the use of ImageChecker software with the SenoScan full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system from Fischer Imaging of Denver. Fischer has marketing rights to sell R2’s technology on its SenoScan review workstation, while R2 can market ImageChecker DM as a CAD solution for SenoScan images.
Finally, R2 demonstrated progress in implementing its "CAD on PACS" concept by highlighting the ability to run its CAD software on a PACS network, rather than requiring users to operate a separate CAD workstation. Ten PACS vendors demonstrated R2’s software within their PACS environments for use in mammography, CT lung, and CR/DR chest images.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersDecember 12, 2003
Related Reading
Vital Images moving into lung analysis with R2 Technology, December 3, 2003
Road to RSNA, R2 Technology, November 17, 2003
R2 to distribute MRS, November 4, 2003
FDA clears Second Look with SenoScan, October 13, 2003
R2 installs lung CAD system in Greece, October 7, 2003
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