Preliminary clinical evaluation of a high-resolution telemammography system

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. The authors designed, assembled, tested, and clinically evaluated a high-quality, fast, and relatively inexpensive telemammography system, METHODS. The authors designed a telemammography system that uses a high-resolution film digitizer and high data compression (greater than or equal to 40:1) to send images over regular telephone lines to a high-resolution laser printer that produces images with the look and feel of the original image and can operate in a hub and spokes mode, The authors then evaluated the system's performance, In a preliminary clinical study, interpretations of the laser-printed system's output of 119 cases were compared with the original interpretations, followed by a review of any clinically significant differences, RESULTS. With the exception of the laser printer, which is a modified off-the-shelf product, all hardware components of the system are commercially available products, The system digitizes (50 mu m pixel size), compresses, transmits, receives, decompresses, and prints a 30MB mammography file in less than 4 minutes, In the clinical study, there were 13 differences (in 13 cases) in the level of concern or recommendations, Seven were found to be clinically insignificant by a third-party review, The remaining six were reviewed by the original interpreter, and three were determined to be significant enough for further action, All were found to result from intra-reader variability rather than differences in visualization of possible abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS. Almost real-time, high-quality telemammography without geographic boundaries is possible with the use of high-level data compression, Telemammography with laser-printed film as the display may make it possible to offer mammographic services in remote locations while using commercially available technology.