Originally Published EMDM September 2002
INDUSTRY NEWS
Barco and MeVis Complete Digital Mammography Project |
| One of the objectives of the SCREEN programme was to demonstrate the advantages of digital mammography over film-based methods. |
A research project involving the conversion of film-based mammography screenings into digital information was recently completed. Coordinated by MeVis Center for Medical Diagnostic Systems and Visualization (Bremen, Germany) and with the participation of Barco N.V. Display Systems (Kortrijk, Belgium), the Soft-Copy Reading Environment (SCREEN) programme ran from January 2000 to April 2002.
Funded by the European Commission, the SCREEN project's objectives were to expedite the implementation of digital mammography, demonstrate its advantages, and propose standards and guidelines for using digital technology in European screening mammography programmes. Current technological barriers in digital mammography include insufficient luminosity and spatial resolution of digital image displays, the lack of suitable image processing, and an insufficient understanding of how to integrate both resolution and imaging into soft-copy reading.
MeVis turned to Barco N.V. Display Systems for the company's expertise in medical imaging. Barco's range of high-resolution grey-scale displays offer high luminance and contrast ratios at the highest possible resolution required for accurate diagnosis, while at the same time guaranteeing stable image quality. The BarcoMed imaging boards are equipped with Barcoview technology for ultrafast image loading, allowing radiologists to screen as many as 100 cases per hour. "We were the first with a fully integrated Dicom calibration solution, and we could also guarantee perceptual linearization and equalization on a dual-head system without losing digital resolution," explains Geert Carrein, product manager for displays and systems at Barco. "Our imaging board was extremely fast and offered additional local user terminals and real-time window/level operations, which are the basic requirements of digital mammography," Carrein adds.
Barco joined the SCREEN project as a display specialist to become familiar with the specific needs of the mammography market. "This project will also enable us to develop the next generation of products with improved performance for digital mammography," says Carrein.
The advantages of digital mammography may include reduced patient radiation exposure, easy image manipulation, increased portability of images and imaging systems, and overall cost reductions. "Digital technology offers radiologists tools that enable them to improve the diagnoses by zooming, levelling, and highlighting the images," adds Carrein.
Carl J.G. Evertsz, project coordinator for MeVis BreastCare in Bremen, Germany, explains the company's decision to choose Barco to help with the project. "Barco's technology is unique—they are the only company worldwide to offer a commercially available graphics board with a true 10-bit digital-to-analogue convertor," Evertsz says. "Barco also has a commitment to staying on the leading edge in the emerging field of digital mammography."
MeVis believes that digital mammography will provide better image quality and decrease the radiation dose for patients. Furthermore, it will enhance image postprocessing, improve the performance of reviewing radiologists, provide more-flexible double reading, and allow for telemammography.
For more information, contact Barco N.V. Display Systems, Theodoor Sevenslaan 106, B-8500 Kortrijk, Belgium; phone: +32 56 233244; fax: +32 56 233460; e-mail: ann.galland@barco.com; Internet: www.barcomedical.com.
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