Mammogram Interpretation And Breast Cancer

Mammogram interpretation is performed by radiologists by visual examination of the films for the presence of abnormalities that can be interpreted as cancerous changes. The shortage of radiologists and the large volume of mammograms to be analysed make such readings labour intensive, cost ineffective, and often inaccurate. The sensitivity of the human eye in interpreting large numbers of images decreases with increasing number of cases, particularly when only a small number of those images shows abnormalities. Therefore, it is useful to construct computer systems to aid early diagnosis of breast cancer with mammography. An automated computer system could evaluate all mammograms and point out the areas which are detected as abnormal. Ideally, if the sensitivity and specificity of the computer system matches or exceeds that of conventional mammography, then only the mammograms detected as abnormal by the computer would pass on to the radiologists for final diagnosis. Misinterpretations can thus be reduced and significant time, cost and valuable lives can be saved.

Full Field Digital Mammography
Many recent imaging modalities in medicine, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), digital mammography also generate images directly in digital form. Diagnostic imaging is an invaluable tool in medicine today. These imaging modalities provide an effective means for non-invasive mapping of the anatomy of a subject. These technologies have greatly increased knowledge of normal and diseased anatomy for medical research and are a critical component in diagnosis and treatment