ABSTRACT
Computer-based decision support systems (CDSS) for breast cancer screening have been in clinical practice for the last 20 years, helping radiologists detect and diagnose signs of early breast cancer. CDSS are routinely used by radiologists to detect breast cancer on screening mammograms (Chapter 1) and are commonly referred to as computer-aided detection (CADe) systems (Sampat et al. 2005, Giger et al. 2008) (Chapter 14). CDSS are also used for quantitatively analyzing breast magnetic resonance (MRI) (Chapter 16) and ultrasound (Chapter 15) images (Sampat et al. 2005, Giger et al. 2008). CDSS for breast MRI and ultrasound are o¬en loosely referred to as computer-aided diagnoses systems (CADx) even though they have been regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only for the purposes of quantitative image analysis and visualization, and not for making diagnostic decisions. As discussed in Chapter 14, a number of studies have shown varying degrees of e›ectiveness of CDSS in helping radiologists interpret breast imaging data. In this chapter, we will provide a perspective on the future of CDSS in breast imaging.
