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ROCHESTER, Minnesota–Mayo Clinic has licensed a technology to Gamma Medica-Ideas Inc. designed to boost the imaging power of its diagnostic device, especially for women with dense breasts.
Invented by a team of Mayo doctors and scientists led by Michael O’Connor, the technology, which includes advanced imaging processing software, can help doctors better diagnose breast cancer with smaller amounts of radiation.
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“We believe that the combination of GMI’s detector technology and the algorithms and techniques developed at Mayo, will enable us to achieve a significant reduction in the radiation dose required for molecular breast imaging and increase the diagnostic utility of this technique,” O’Connor said in a statement.
Mayo says the technology will especially help women with denser breasts because conventional mammograms, a special type of X-ray, can’t penetrate through thicker tissue and detect smaller tumors.
“Mammograms are less accurate… in women with dense breasts than in women with fatty breasts,” according to a 2003 study published in the Annals of Modern Medicine. “Women with dense breasts may need additional imaging studies to confirm the presence of cancer.”
Since 2007, GMI has been working with Mayo and the National Cancer Institute on a $1.8 million study to compare the company’s LumaGEM dual-headed Molecular Breast Imaging technology to regular MRI scans. The company said initial results show algorithms (advanced mathematical equations) developed at Mayo and licensed to GMI produced better images at lower doses of radiation.
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GMI CEO Dr. Bradley Patt said the company’s device is especially relevant given the recent recommendations by a federal task force that women should get mammograms beginning at age 50 instead of 40. The task force said women in their 40s are less likely to have breast cancer but could harm themselves both physically and emotionally through over-treatment. Women in that age group also tend to have denser breasts, making mammograms less effective, Dr. Patt said.
