A SOPHISTICATED computer program, developed to help astronomers analyse constellations in space, is set to revolutionise breast -screening services in Britain and save countless lives, it was revealed yesterday.
Under current NHS screening, two experts are used to study mammograms for early signs of breast cancer.
But a groundbreaking study, headed by researchers at Aberdeen University, has shown that a single expert, using the new software system, is eq
ually effective in diagnosing the disease, which claims the lives of about 1,000 women in Scotland each year.
Some 1.7 million screenings are carried out each year, and the researchers believe the new system could lead to a 30 per cent increase, dramatically increasing patients' chances of survival.
The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, involved more than 30,000 female patients in the UK.
Fiona Gilbert, professor of radiology at Aberdeen, who led the research, said: "The study has huge international significance. In the UK, it will mean the same number of experts can read more mammograms in a given period of time.
"Screenings are currently offered to women between 50 and 70. We want to expand the screening programme, and this would allow us to increase our capacity. The new system could allow this to be extended to women aged between 47 and 50, and 70 and 73.
"And, if more people are screened, potentially more lives could be saved. It could be a substantial number."
She said the use of the new computer system could be even more significant in the United States and some other European countries, where only a single expert reads mammograms.
"This means single readers using the computer-aided detection programme (CAD] will be even more effective at detecting breast cancer," she said. "Using CAD is likely to improve breast cancer detection in those countries where only a single reader is used."
Prof Gilbert went on: "In the UK, we have two readers that read mammograms in the national breast screening programme because it has been shown that having a second person increases the number of cancers that we detect, particularly the small ones that we really want to find, because that stops people dying from breast cancer.
"The study showed that the single reader, using the computer, could find as many cancers as the two readers. It means the workload of radiologists and trained technicians who traditionally read all breast X-rays could be reduced by bringing in computers to help them."
She said the detection system had been developed in the US and was based on a computer program originally used to help astronomers to analyse star systems.
The system digitises the image of the mammogram, which is then fed through the computer program. The radiologist is presented with a picture of the breast X-ray on the computer screen, where small triangles are used to pinpoint potential abnormalities.
The full article contains 484 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
