Volpara Health and DetectED-X Team Up to Improve Breast Density Assessment

SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Nov. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Radiologists around the world will have access to a first-of-its-kind online breast density training tool designed to improve radiologists' ability to correctly identify women's breast density categories to comply with the Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS), thanks to a collaboration between DetectED-X and Volpara Health. 

"While we have seen tremendous advances in medical imaging and AI tools to improve the detection of breast cancer, varying levels of skill and experience among radiologists reading mammograms can contribute to interpretation errors and variations in assessing breast density. Such errors and variations can delay diagnosis and impact the effectiveness of the treatment of disease, which may have important clinical and economic implications," said Patrick Brennan, CEO DetectED-X and Chair, Diagnostic Imaging at the University of Sydney.

The new training module, DensityED, integrates key technologies from Volpara and DetectED-X. Volpara has provided breast density assessments for more than 13 million women in 39 countries. The world-leading, cloud-based education platform, BreastED from DetectED-X, is already transforming the results that radiologists achieve by lowering recall rates, and improving cancer detection by over 34%.

The new DensityED takes radiologists through test modules to rate more than 60 mammogram images of various levels of difficulty, and challenges radiologists to classify the images as BI-RADS breast density categories from A through D. DensityED provides immediate feedback on reading performance and highlights the density classifications made by the radiologists. The tool also provides feedback when the radiologists' classification differs from the classification by Volpara software, enabling radiologists to identify and correct errors. DensityED allows radiologists to compare their accuracy across the globe and regionally. At the end of the training, users receive continuing education credits. 

"DensityED will help radiologists improve their ability to correctly and consistently perform BI-RADS density assessment, which is becoming increasingly important in light of the personalization of screening and expected FDA density reporting regulations," said Dr. Ralph Highnam, PhD, founder and CEO of Volpara Health Technologies. "Accurate, reproducible density information is needed to empower women in their breast health journey."

A potential new federal regulation, proposed in February 2019, would require mammography facilities across the country to include whether a patient has dense breast composition in the report following her screening mammogram.

Dr. Joseph Russo, Section Chief for Mammography at St. Luke's University Health Network, who has tested the training module said, "This online educational tool comes at a critical time when radiologists are seeking more virtual continuing education opportunities. DensityED is an efficient way to improve accuracy and consistency in BI-RADS classification, which is a critical element in increasing the adoption of risk-based screening programs."

DensityED is available to Volpara customers in 39 countries and will be sold independently through DetectED-X. Through this partnership, Volpara will also make BreastED, DetectED-X's gold standard in radiologic breast cancer detection training, available to clinicians. Volpara's density software has been included in more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and research abstracts, and is the most clinically validated automatic, volumetric breast density assessment software in the field of breast cancer research.

About DetectED-X

DetectED-X was founded by a group of Australian-based radiation and imaging experts to help doctors and radiologists worldwide diagnose cases of breast cancer, lung cancer and COVID-19 faster and more accurately. The cloud-based life-saving technology is an educational solution that improves radiological detection rates based on an intelligent interactive educational platform. Detected-X is an award-winning organization that was originally a start-up in the University of Sydney. DetectED-X's vision is to eliminate diagnostic error in imaging globally, particularly in the diagnosis of breast and lung cancer. Medical professionals, hospitals and other institutions can register to gain access to the platform at www.detectedx.com.

About Volpara Health

Volpara Health provides an advanced AI software platform that works with a healthcare provider's expertise to enable a high-quality, optimized and personalized cancer screening experience. From the time a patient enters a clinic to the moment they obtain key results, the Volpara Breast Health Platform collects and analyzes information to better understand a patient's breast cancer risk, while also objectively evaluating image quality and workflow-improvement opportunities. These capabilities are being extended to lung cancer screening. The Volpara Breast Health Platform is supported by numerous patents, trademarks, and regulatory registrations including FDA clearance and CE marking and is validated by a volume of peer-reviewed publications unrivaled in the breast screening industry. For more information, visit http://www.volparahealth.com.

SOURCE Volpara Health