Yes!! After almost three years of hard work, I have my first journal article accepted for publication by European Radiology. It is published as open-access, so the article is free for everyone to download as a PDF. The article is entitled: “Using computer-aided detection in mammography as a decision support”. I’m very thrilled with my first publication, and I hope that I am on the right track getting my PhD. My second article about a multi-view CAD system is almost ready to be sent to an other journal for consideration. Read further for the abstract.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an interactive computer-aided detection (CAD) system for reading mammograms to improve decision making.

METHODS: A dedicated mammographic workstation has been developed in which readers can probe image locations for the presence of CAD information. If present, CAD findings are displayed with the computed malignancy rating. A reader study was conducted in which four screening radiologists and five non-radiologists participated to study the effect of this system on detection performance. The participants read 120 cases of which 40 cases had a malignant mass that was missed at the original screening. The readers read each mammogram both with and without CAD in separate sessions. Each reader reported localized findings and assigned a malignancy score per finding. Mean sensitivity was computed in an interval of false-positive fractions less than 10

RESULTS: Mean sensitivity was 25.1% in the sessions without CAD and 34.8% in the CAD-assisted sessions. The increase in detection performance was significant (p = 0.012). Average reading time was 84.7 +/- 61.5 s/case in the unaided sessions and was not significantly higher when interactive CAD was used (85.9 +/- 57.8 s/case).

CONCLUSION: Interactive use of CAD in mammography may be more effective than traditional CAD for improving mass detection without affecting reading time.