Stepping Hill Hospital, part of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, has ordered two MAMMOMAT Inspiration Full-Field Direct Digital Mammography systems from Siemens Healthcare.

Stepping Hill Hospital, part of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, has ordered two MAMMOMAT Inspiration Full-Field Direct Digital Mammography systems from Siemens Healthcare.  One of the devices will be the first Inspiration in the UK to use Computer Aided Detection (CAD) to assist in breast cancer diagnosis.

The MAMMOMAT Inspiration has been ordered with syngo MammoCAD, a software programme developed by Siemens that assists radiologists in interpreting digital breast images by flagging up areas of possible concern for a radiologist to re-examine. The software also measures the volume, diameter and position of possible tumours, storing the data so that it can be used for comparison in follow-up examinations.

Recent findings from a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine have also suggested that a combination of CAD and one expert is as effective at detecting breast cancer as the usual practice of two experts reading a mammogram.  The Siemens software will provide further support to radiologists at Stepping Hill, helping to identify small lesions and minimise false positives.

One of the systems that Stepping Hill has ordered also comes with the Inspiration’s unique Mood Light feature that emits soothing pastel colours.  These can be personally selected by the user throughout the examination process helping to promote relaxation.  The use of colours to soothe and promote calmness, in what is naturally an anxious and sometimes embarrassing procedure for patients, can have a positive effect not only in the short term but also in the long run as it may help persuade patients to return for their next examination.

"We are delighted that Stepping Hill Hospital has placed the first UK order for an Inspiration with CAD," said Samantha Smith, Mammography Product Specialist at Siemens Healthcare.  "This intuitive software is designed to alleviate pressures on radiologists, helping to reduce the number of biopsies and improve the accuracy of results.  syngo MammoCAD is also a useful support tool in training to improve accuracy and knowledge of lesion detection."

The MAMMOMAT Inspiration system from Siemens combines speed, superior image quality and patient examination comfort to produce efficient results.  It can examine more than 15 patients per hour and has a gap of just 18 seconds between exposure and display of high-resolution digital images.