Remote Patient Management in a Mammographic Screening Environment in Underserved Areas

摘要

Early detection of breast cancer is of significant interest to our society. Mammographic screening is gradually moving toward a 'distributed acquisition - centralized review' approach. Unfortunately, a relatively high recall rate using this approach increases patient anxiety as well as the cost and complexity of the diagnostic process. The purpose of this project is to evaluate in a multi-phase project the possible impact of a unique tele- mammography system that utilizes common carriers with wavelet-based data compression for image transmission, on the recall rate in remote locations where physicians are not available during mammographic procedures. The initial phases of the project encompasses the design, assembly, and technical testing of a multi-site tele-mammography system that enables the digitization, transmission, and display of wavelet compressed images, as well as associated text documents of a case combined with CAD results in less than 15 minutes. The possible impact of such a system is being evaluated during a step-by-step assessment in a multi-site study.