Journalist Michelle Andrews, writing in KFF Health News in an article about AI for mammography.

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Breast Imaging

Breast Cancer in Younger Women Rises

Breast cancer rates have been rising in younger women – many of whom aren’t yet eligible for screening – and a new study in JAMA Network Open offers a perspective. 

Breast cancer mortality has dropped consistently over the last several decades, with a recent study in JAMA attributing the decline to the combination of screening and treatment. 

• And a related study by the American Cancer Society found that while cancer mortality has fallen for six of the top 10 cancers, incidence has been rising for breast cancer, particularly among younger women under 50. 

The problem is that even the most liberal breast screening guidelines recommend that average-risk women don’t start getting screened until age 40. 

• This leaves younger women at risk of developing cancers that may present as more advanced disease.

The new study delves into this phenomenon, with researchers examining data from 218k women ages 20-49 who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 2000-2019. Researchers found that cancer incidence …

• Increased 0.79% annually across all women
• Accelerated “dramatically” starting in 2016 
• Rates per 100k women were similar for non-Hispanic Black and White women (71 & 70) across all age groups
• But were sharply lower for Hispanic women (53)
• Rates for Black women 20-29 and 30-39 were the highest among race and age cohorts (8 and 51)
• Rates varied by hormone receptor status

The lower incidence rate for Hispanic women was an intriguing finding that researchers attributed to younger age at the birth of their first child, higher maternal parity, and longer periods of breastfeeding – all factors that may be changing with lower fertility rates.

• The higher incidence rates for younger Black women are particularly problematic as these women also are more likely to present with advanced disease, which leads to higher mortality rates.

The Takeaway

The new study provides background to what’s become one of the more disturbing trends in public health. While incidence rates in younger women are still much lower than in older women, the rise raises the question of whether health interventions such as risk assessment and targeted screening – such as for younger Black women – are necessary.

White Paper on Structural Heart Imaging

How can AI help improve care for patients with structural heart issues? Learn more about new enhancements for procedures like TAVR and TMVR, as well as LAA closure, in this downloadable white paper from TeraRecon.

MRI Access and the Cost of Inpatient Stays

Longer inpatient stays due to delayed MRI access are a long-standing and costly issue for hospital systems. Find out how STAGE from SpinTech MRI can reduce your MRI backlog and inpatient stays by shortening brain scan times by 30%.

The Wire

• Is Mammography AI Worth It? Is AI for mammography screening worth it to patients – especially when they have to pay for it themselves? An article by KFF Health News examines the issue with a special focus on RadNet’s Enhanced Breast Cancer Detection program, which charges patients $40 to run an AI analysis of breast screening exams. The article is a mostly balanced view of the issue, featuring comments from breast imaging thought leaders, concluding that more data is needed to prove the value of mammography AI.    

• Helium Supply Goes Private: The US government has sold its massive stockpile of helium, a widely used industrial gas that in liquid form is used to cool MRI magnets. The Federal Helium Reserve in Amarillo, Texas with 800M cubic feet of helium was sold in a January 25 auction to industrial gas supplier Messer, which has pledged to continue operating the reserve. But groups like AdvaMed are concerned that the reserve’s privatization could create supply disruptions that might affect the operations of MRI providers. Could the deal spur more helium-free magnet designs?

• Intelerad Launches Cardiac MRI Software: At last weekend’s SCMR meeting in London, Intelerad launched Precession, a new solution for viewing, analyzing, and reporting cardiac MRI scans with a standard web browser. Intelerad focused on improving productivity in developing Precession, with the company claiming it can reduce to five minutes tasks that previously took 30 minutes. The solution includes collaboration and structured reporting features, and can manage all the functions of cardiac CT, cardiac MR, and echocardiography programs.

• Radiologists Boost Lung Screening: Who said radiologists don’t interact with patients? In a pilot project in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology, researchers describe how radiologist consultations boosted awareness and interest in CT lung cancer screening. Radiologists consulted with 38 individuals eligible for screening; afterward, rates rose for patient interest in viewing their screening images (100% vs. 87%), knowledge of screening logistics (90% vs. 71%), and motivation by current smokers to quit (100% vs. 90%). The authors believe radiologist consultations could boost low lung cancer screening rates.

• Predicting Advanced Imaging Use: A new tool is now available to predict which patients might need advanced imaging due to comorbidities. The ACR’s Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute has developed the Neiman Imaging Comorbidity Index, which predicts future imaging use based on nine acute and historical health conditions. In a comparison in JACR to another commonly used score, the Charlson comorbidity index, the NICI better predicted a patient’s chance of needing advanced imaging based on C statistic (0.71 vs. 0.69). 

• Hospital to Shut Down Nuclear Medicine Service: A community hospital on Long Island, New York is planning to shut down its nuclear medicine department due to a lack of patients. Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital saw the number of nuclear medicine patients it handled drop to 58 in 2022, compared to 400-500 for a “good” nuclear medicine department. What’s more, the hospital’s nuclear medicine equipment is aging and it doesn’t have a PET scanner. The hospital plans to repurpose the space and expand its ultrasound service. 

• deepc adds Qure to AI platform: Platform AI developer deepc has added X-ray and CT AI algorithms from Qure.ai to its deepcOS. The solutions include Qure’s qER for detection of brain injuries in the emergency setting, qCT for lung cancer detection, qXR for abnormal findings on chest X-rays, and qMSK for detecting 15 types of fractures on X-rays. Other recent additions to deepcOS include French software developer Nurea and Chinese developer Huiying Medical Technology. 

• Health Worker Exodus: The COVID-19 pandemic had an obvious impact on the 18.8M healthcare workers in the US, but a new study documents just how many left the profession. In JAMA Health Forum, researchers analyzed healthcare exit rates from 2018 to December 2021, finding that the exit rate rose in Q1 2020 compared to the quarterly mean in 2018 (8 vs. 5.9 percentage points), and by Q4 2021 the exit rate was still higher than the baseline period (7.7 percentage points). The turnover could be tied to rising burnout levels experienced during the pandemic. 

• CMS Finalizes Prior Auth Rule: CMS finalized its new rule to streamline the prior authorization process and improve the electronic exchange of health information. Starting mostly in 2026, certain Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and qualified health plans will be required to include a specific reason when denying requests, publicly report their prior auth metrics, and send decisions within 72 hours for urgent requests and seven days for standard requests. Impacted payors will also be required to implement new APIs to support electronic prior authorization and data exchange.

• Imvaria Gets Nod for Lung Fibrosis AI: Imvaria has received FDA clearance for Fibresolve, an AI algorithm that analyzes CT scans to detect idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) prior to invasive testing. Fibresolve is designed to help speed diagnosis for IPF patients, who sometimes wait nearly two and a half years before a definitive diagnosis, causing a delay in treatment. The company said Fibresolve received breakthrough device designation from the FDA, and also has CPT billing codes to ensure reimbursement. 

• Don’t Mess with the FDA: A regulatory affairs specialist in charge of medical device submissions to the FDA was sentenced to one year in prison for falsifying 510(k) clearance documents for surgical drill products. Peter Stoll III was working for B. Braun’s Aesculap subsidiary in 2017 when he created fraudulent clearance letters for the ELAN-4 air drill and JS Series SterilContainer S2 sterilization container; the letters even had the forged signature of an FDA official. Stoll pleaded guilty to the charges. 

The Present and Future of Lung Cancer Screening

What is the latest evidence to support lung cancer screening, and what role will AI play? Watch this on-demand Bayer webinar to learn about evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of lung cancer.

Theranostics – The Future of Personalized Care

Join your peers and leadership from GE HealthCare to hear how advances in precise diagnostics and therapies are evolving to deliver Theranostics. GE HealthCare’s comprehensive solutions connect every step in molecular medicine, helping to create a world where healthcare has no limits.

The Power of Enterprise Image Exchange

Exchange medical data across the enterprise and grow your referrals and patient transfers. Share images in real-time – no VPN or CDs required – with Intelerad’s Enterprise Image Exchange.

The Resource Wire

• Achieve the Benefits of AI with Choice and Control: AI for imaging is here. More and more applications are clearing regulatory hurdles and proving to be mature enough to support clinical use cases. Learn how to achieve the benefits of AI on your own terms in this guide from Merge by Merative. 

• Delighting Patients with Medical Image Sharing: A new platform from Clearpath now enables healthcare providers to delight their patients by sharing images and medical records digitally. Find out how it integrates simply into your practice. 

• What’s the Latest News from United Imaging? Driven by a focus on R&D, United Imaging has increased its brand influence and market share worldwide. Get the details in the company’s first annual report since going public. 

• Going Mobile with MRI Just Got Easier: Mobile MRI can help you deliver healthcare to your patients wherever they are. Find out in this article how the new Magnetom Viato.Mobile scanner from Siemens Healthineers makes going mobile with MRI easier than ever. 

• CARPL adopted in Singapore: When it began implementing its AimSG nationwide AI program, Singapore’s Synapxe health technology agency relied on the CARPL.ai platform to make everything work. Learn more in this article. 

• What Can We Do About Physician Burnout? Clinical burnout is widespread in healthcare. What can be done to combat burnout in imaging? Listen to Sonia Gupta, MD, of Change Healthcare as she addresses the concerns and offers possible solutions that you can use right now.

• Delivering the Quadruple Aim Through Image Exchange: Learn how a redesigned enterprise image exchange can enhance patient experiences, improve population health, generate cost savings and increase staff satisfaction in this white paper from PocketHealth.

• AI Platform’s Benefits Beyond Stroke Triage: How did the VA’s National Teleradiology Program (NTP) use Blackford Platform to respond to stat reads for intracranial hemorrhage from 120 facilities across the US — and enable AI to deliver benefits beyond stroke triage? Find out in this case study. 

• The Clinical Value of Soft-Tissue Chest X-Ray: Soft-tissue techniques can improve the visibility and accuracy of chest X-ray.  Learn about two important soft-tissue methods – bone suppression and dual-energy subtraction – in this white paper from Riverain Technologies.

• Leveraging a Proven Echo AI Platform: Us2.ai has developed a promising new pathway for bringing custom echo AI applications into widespread clinical and commercial use – historically a challenge for algorithms produced by health systems and academic institutions. Find out how it worked in Uganda in this article.

• AI Improves Hand and Wrist Fracture Detection: Learn how Gleamer’s BoneView AI algorithm for detecting fractures in the hand and wrist on X-ray improved radiologist performance in a recent paper in European Radiology. 

• Breast Density Classification: From Conception to Routine Use: Knowing an individual’s mammographic breast density is key to understanding their risk for cancer. An article from Visage Imaging explains how an AI-based solution can improve breast density assessment. 

• What Exams Are Radiologists Reading? What kinds of medical imaging exams are radiologists reading today, and how confident do they feel across different subspecialties? Find out in the 2023 Radiology Practice Development Report from Medality.  

• 8 Ways to Monetize Your Imaging Data: Data monetization can help radiology practices gain value from the vast amount of data they generate. But it takes careful planning to ensure data privacy and security. Learn how to do it in this guide from Enlitic. 

• An Integrated Approach to Radiology AI: AI automates what radiologists can’t stand, surfaces what radiologists can’t see, and identifies what radiologists can’t miss. But only if it’s implemented in the way radiologists work. See how Nuance helps radiologists achieve these results through a single, streamlined, end-to-end AI experience.