New, fully-automated morphological system offers improved breast cancer detection

Dec 1 2009

The launch of Invivo Corporation's ONCAD for DynaCAD marks the availability of the first FDA-cleared, fully-automated morphological system for the detection and analysis by a radiologist of suspicious breast lesions. The ONCAD system will be officially unveiled at the Radiological Society of North America 2009 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Developed in partnership with leading experts in breast MRI, ONCAD for DynaCAD uses a patented mathematical algorithm to analyze the entire breast and draw a physician's attention to abnormal morphology during a contrast-enhanced breast MRI. ONCAD's fractal mathematics and proprietary algorithms not only enhance the detection of both invasive and noninvasive lesions, the approach also delineates the extent of the disease by measuring margin sharpness to determine the degree of lesion vascularization. The suspicious lesions are marked with a color overlay, light pink for moderate suspicion and dark pink for highly suspicious lesions, an important data point in a physician's assessment.

Studies have shown that while breast MRI procedures are cost-effective screening methods for high-risk patients and have a higher sensitivity than mammography, the numerous images generated have low specificity. ONCAD provides physicians with an objective quantification of the margins of suspicious lesions by employing shape- and texture-based filters to improve specificity. The results are seamlessly integrated in an automated DynaCAD hanging. Because ONCAD provides physicians with more visual information, they are able to detect suspicious lesions that may be imperceptible to the human eye, thereby improving their diagnostic confidence.

An Era of Innovation

The introduction of ONCAD for DynaCAD is one of several advanced clinical solutions recently brought to market by Invivo Corporation. Early this year, Invivo unveiled their DynaCAD for Prostate solution, combining new analysis and interventional options for patients with elevated or rising PSA levels and negative TRUS-guided biopsy results. DynaCAD for Prostate provides the physician with a comprehensive, customizable set of visualization tools for performing realtime analysis of prostate MRI studies. DynaCAD for Prostate and DynaTRIM then enable a physician to conduct targeted MRI interventions of suspicious areas within the prostate gland, reducing the number of cores acquired during biopsy. Compared to published cancer yield rates of up to 15% with third TRUS-guided biopsies, DynaCAD for Prostate produces a 59% detection rate with a maximum of 4 MRI-guided biopsy cores.

In 2009, Invivo Corporation announced the release of three new technologies: their Luminescence Breast Coil System, DynaCAD version 2.1 with QuickClick Segmentation, and DynaSuite Neuro Advanced MR Workstation.

• Having been an industry leader in the development of MR breast coils, Invivo designed the Luminescence Breast Coil System, a modular diagnostic and interventional coil set that delivers improved image uniformity and performance and superior signal to noise ratio. The 16-channel system answers the demand for the best quality images, best ease of use and best patient experience as breast MRI procedures increase for screening high-risk populations.
• DynaCAD version 2.1 with QuickClick Segmentation was previewed at the RSNA Annual Meeting in 2008. The software platform maintains the core functionalities that built DynaCAD's reputation for speed, power and flexibility and features quantification tools, rendering, and BI-RADS® Reporting, making it easier for a physician to read MRI studies and generate reports. QuickClick Segmentation offers a visualization system with automated site-specific measurements, snapshots and finding reports while maintaining the ability for a physician to customize their reading and reporting style.
• DynaSuite Neuro Advanced MR Workstation is a high performance solution for the rapid and repeatable interpretation of MR Neuro images. The solution is capable of integrating anatomical, fMRI, and 3D vascular imaging with basic analysis to produce a dynamic, 3D model within the SmartFusion(TM) review.