Canadian Association of Radiologists Mammography Accreditation Program—Clinical Image Assessment

2021 ◽  
pp. 084653712110251
Author(s):  
Nancy A. T. Wadden ◽  
Connie Hapgood
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Quality Education ◽  
Clinical Image ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Clinical Images ◽  
Accreditation Program ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Reading Volume ◽  
Image Assessment

The Canadian Association of Radiologists Mammography Accreditation Program (CAR-MAP) has advocated for quality mammography since its inception in 1991. Evidence based standards have been employed to address image quality, education of personnel, radiologists experience and reading volume. This article reviews the objectives and components of the accreditation program. Education requirements for the technologist, physicist and radiologist are described. A guide to the evaluation criteria for the clinical images is provided. Positioning requirements and technical considerations are detailed to assist facilities and their personnel in improving and maintaining image quality and choosing appropriate images for submission for accreditation.

scholarly journals Novel Approach for MRI Image Quality Analysis by Hybrid Preprocessing Techniques

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
K Phaneendra ◽  
B Tirupathi Rao ◽  
B Nikhila Sree ◽  
J Haswanth Kumar ◽  
B Harshavardhan Raju
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Clinical Image ◽  
Discrete Wavelet ◽  
Clinical Images ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Fundamental Goal ◽  
Information Image

Image pre-preparing methods are utilized to improve the nature of a image before handling into an application. This uses a little neighborhood of a pixel in an information image to get another splendor esteem in the yield image. These pre-preparing methods are likewise called as filtration and goals upgrade. The clinical image quality parameters are fundamentally clamor and goals. The fundamental goal of this paper is to improve the image quality by denoising and goals upgrade. A large portion of the imaging methods are corrupted by clamor. So as to protect the edges and form data of the clinical images, the effective denoising and an improved upgrade method is required. This paper focuses the normal, middle and wiener sifting for image denoising and an addition based Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) strategy for goals improvement. The presentation of these strategies is assessed utilizing Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). From the outcomes, it uncovers that the effective denoising and goals upgrade method is basic for image pre-handling.

Clinical Image Quality and Sensitivity in an Organized Mammography Screening Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Théberge ◽  
Marie-Hélène Guertin ◽  
Nathalie Vandal ◽  
Jean-Marc Daigle ◽  
Michel-Pierre Dufresne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Quality Evaluation ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Clinical Image ◽  
Breast Cancers ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Screening Mammograms ◽  
Screening Sensitivity ◽  
Adjusted Sensitivity

Purpose The study sought to examine the association between clinical image quality of mammograms and screening sensitivity. Methods Four radiologists evaluated the clinical image quality of 374 invasive screen-detected cancers and 356 invasive interval breast cancers for which quality evaluation of screening mammograms could be assessed from cancers diagnosed among participants in the Quebec Breast Cancer Screening Program in 2007. Quality evaluation was based on the Canadian Association of Radiologists accreditation criteria, which are similar to those of the American College of Radiology. The association between clinical quality and screening sensitivity was assessed by logistic regression. Adjusted sensitivity and adjusted sensitivity ratios were obtained through marginal standardization. No institutional review board approval was required. Results A proportion of 28% (206 of 730) of screening mammograms had lower overall quality for the majority of assessments. Positioning was the quality attribute that was the most frequently deficient. The 2-year screening sensitivity reached 68%. Sensitivity of screening was not statistically associated with the overall quality (ratio of 2-year sensitivity = 1.03; 95% confidence interval: 0.93-1.15) or with any quality attributes (positioning, exposure, compression, sharpness, artifacts, contrast). Results were similar for the 1-year sensitivity. Conclusions Although not all mammograms in the Quebec screening program met the optimum quality required by the Canadian Association of Radiologists or American College of Radiology accreditation, the screening mammograms produced in this population-based organized screening program reached a high enough level of quality so that the remaining variation in quality is too little to impair screening sensitivity.

AI-Provided Instant Differential Diagnosis of Pemphigus Vulgaris and Bullous Pemphigoid: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu He ◽  
Juan Su ◽  
Guangyu Wang ◽  
Kang Zhang ◽  
Navarini Alexander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Image Classification ◽  
Bullous Pemphigoid ◽  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Pemphigus Vulgaris ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Clinical Image ◽  
Clinical Images ◽  
Multimodal Classification

BACKGROUND Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and bullous pemphigoid (BP) are two rare but severe inflammatory dermatoses. Due to the regional lack of trained dermatologists, many patients with these two diseases are misdiagnosed and therefore incorrectly treated. An artificial intelligence diagnosis framework would be highly adaptable for the early diagnosis of these two diseases. OBJECTIVE Design and evaluate an artificial intelligence diagnosis framework for PV and BP. METHODS The work was conducted on a dermatological dataset consisting of 17,735 clinical images and 346 patient metadata of bullous dermatoses. A two-stage diagnosis framework was designed, where the first stage trained a clinical image classification model to classify bullous dermatoses from five common skin diseases and normal skin and the second stage developed a multimodal classification model of clinical images and patient metadata to further differentiate PV and BP. RESULTS The clinical image classification model and the multimodal classification model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.998 and 0.942, respectively. On the independent test set of 20 PV and 20 BP cases, our multimodal classification model (sensitivity: 0.85, specificity: 0.95) performed better than the average of 27 junior dermatologists (sensitivity: 0.68, specificity: 0.78) and comparable to the average of 69 senior dermatologists (sensitivity: 0.80, specificity: 0.87). CONCLUSIONS Our diagnosis framework based on clinical images and patient metadata achieved expert-level identification of PV and BP, and is potential to be an effective tool for dermatologists in remote areas in the early diagnosis of these two diseases.

scholarly journals Evaluation of image quality at the detector’s edge of dedicated breast positron emission tomography

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Satoh ◽  
Utaroh Motosugi ◽  
Masamichi Imai ◽  
Yoshie Omiya ◽  
Hiroshi Onishi
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Chest Wall ◽  
Clinical Studies ◽  
Breast Imaging ◽  
Phantom Study ◽  
Breast Lesions ◽  
Clinical Images ◽  
Dedicated Breast Pet ◽  
Pet Ct ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract Background Using phantoms and clinical studies in prone hanging breast imaging, we assessed the image quality of a commercially available dedicated breast PET (dbPET) at the detector’s edge, where mammary glands near the chest wall are located. These are compared to supine PET/CT breast images of the same clinical subjects. Methods A breast phantom with four spheres (16-, 10-, 7.5-, and 5-mm diameter) was filled with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose solution (sphere-to-background activity concentration ratio, 8:1). The spheres occupied five different positions from the top edge to the centre of the detector and were scanned for 5 min in each position. Reconstructed images were visually evaluated, and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), contrast recovery coefficient (CRC) for all spheres, and coefficient of variation of the background (CVB) were calculated. Subsequently, clinical images obtained with standard supine PET/CT and prone dbPET were retrospectively analysed. Tumour-to-background ratios (TBRs) between breast cancer near the chest wall (close to the detector’s edge; peripheral group) and at other locations (non-peripheral group) were compared. The TBR of each lesion was compared between dbPET and PET/CT. Results Closer to the detector’s edge, the CNR and CRC of all spheres decreased while the CVB increased in the phantom study. The disadvantages of this placement were visually confirmed. Regarding clinical images, TBR of dbPET was significantly higher than that of PET/CT in both the peripheral (12.38 ± 6.41 vs 6.73 ± 3.5, p = 0.0006) and non-peripheral (12.44 ± 5.94 vs 7.71 ± 7.1, p = 0.0183) groups. There was no significant difference in TBR of dbPET between the peripheral and non-peripheral groups. Conclusion The phantom study revealed poorer image quality at < 2-cm distance from the detector’s edge than at other more central parts. In clinical studies, however, the visibility of breast lesions with dbPET was the same regardless of the lesion position, and it was higher than that in PET/CT. dbPET has a great potential for detecting breast lesions near the chest wall if they are at least 2 cm from the edge of the FOV, even in young women with small breasts.

Impact on dose and image quality of a software-based scatter correction in mammography

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 649-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Monserrat ◽  
Elena Prieto ◽  
Benigno Barbés ◽  
Luis Pina ◽  
Arlette Elizalde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Scatter Correction ◽  
Inverse Image ◽  
Clinical Image ◽  
Air Kerma ◽  
Average Glandular Dose ◽  
Standard Mode ◽  
Entrance Surface Air Kerma ◽  
Clinical Cases

Background In 2014, Siemens developed a new software-based scatter correction (Progressive Reconstruction Intelligently Minimizing Exposure [PRIME]), enabling grid-less digital mammography. Purpose To compare doses and image quality between PRIME (grid-less) and standard (with anti-scatter grid) modes. Material and Methods Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured for various polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) thicknesses and dose values provided by the mammograph were recorded. CDMAM phantom images were acquired for various PMMA thicknesses and inverse Image Quality Figure (IQFinv) was calculated. Values of incident entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) and average glandular dose (AGD) were obtained from the DICOM header for a total of 1088 pairs of clinical cases. Two experienced radiologists compared subjectively the image quality of a total of 149 pairs of clinical cases. Results CNR values were higher and doses were lower in PRIME mode for all thicknesses. IQFinv values in PRIME mode were lower for all thicknesses except for 40 mm of PMMA equivalent, in which IQFinv was slightly greater in PRIME mode. A mean reduction of 10% in ESAK and 12% in AGD in PRIME mode with respect to standard mode was obtained. The clinical image quality in PRIME and standard acquisitions resulted to be similar in most of the cases (84% for the first radiologist and 67% for the second one). Conclusion The use of PRIME software reduces, in average, the dose of radiation to the breast without affecting image quality. This reduction is greater for thinner and denser breasts.

scholarly journals Canadian Association of Radiologists Recommendations for the Safe Use of MRI During Pregnancy

2021 ◽  
pp. 084653712110156
Author(s):  
Pejman Jabehdar Maralani ◽  
Anish Kapadia ◽  
Grace Liu ◽  
Felipe Moretti ◽  
Hournaz Ghandehari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Group ◽  
Energy Deposition ◽  
Expert Panel ◽  
Acoustic Noise ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Fetal Safety ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
In Pregnancy

The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during pregnancy is associated with concerns among patients and health professionals with regards to fetal safety. In this work, the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) Working Group on MRI in Pregnancy presents recommendations for the use of MRI in pregnancy, derived from literature review as well as expert panel opinions and discussions. The working group, which consists of academic subspecialty radiologists and obstetrician-gynaecologists, aimed to provide updated, evidence-based recommendations addressing safety domains related to energy deposition, acoustic noise, and gadolinium-based contrast agent use based on magnetic field strength (1.5T and 3T) and trimester scanned, in addition to the effects of sedative use and occupational exposure.

Three Emerging Spiritual Practices in the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC): From Pastoral Care and Counselling to Multi-Faith, Evidence-Based Spiritual Care and Psycho-Spiritual Therapy

2021 ◽  
pp. 154230502110366
Author(s):  
Thomas St. James O’Connor ◽  
Elizabeth Meakes
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Process Theology ◽  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Canadian Association ◽  
Spiritual Therapy ◽  
Integrated Psychotherapy ◽  
The Relationship

Describes the relationship between practice and theory (praxis) along with an examination of changes in the last 40 years in the praxis of pastoral care and counselling in the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC) that led to spiritual care and psycho-spiritual therapy. Developments in spiritual practices include growth in multi-faith, evidence-based spiritual care, and spiritually integrated psychotherapy (psycho-spiritual therapy). Suggests further areas of research and reflection including process theology.

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