Dear AuntMinnie Insider,
If CAD isn't the whole future of virtual colonoscopy, it is certainly a key ingredient. Many VC practitioners believe that well-designed CAD algorithms will someday level the playing field between novices and experienced readers, improving everyone's ability to detect colorectal lesions before they cross the line to carcinoma.
There is already some evidence that this is true. CAD systems are outperforming all but the best human readers in the detection of polyps, although humans retain an edge in specificity, which comes in handy when ruling out CAD's many false positives.
Earlier this summer in Berlin, CAD expert Dr. Hiro Yoshida discussed the state of the art of today's colon CAD applications, touching on important innovations in research, a few nettlesome shortcomings, and of course, CAD's prospects for the future.
One thing is certain: At a time when virtual colonoscopy is getting easier for the patient, the job of designing CAD systems is getting harder, thanks to today's ultralow-dose protocols and milder bowel preps.
This Insider Exclusive article on VC CAD is published for our subscribers before it is available to other AuntMinnie members.
In our Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community, don't miss the first peer-reviewed study of low-dose virtual colonoscopy in symptomatic children, from a team in Buenos Aires. A group from Belgium found that barium doses for fecal tagging can be moderate when a low-residue diet is part of the protocol.
Closer to home, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, have found that most patients, even those without an elevated risk of colorectal cancer, may have extracolonic findings worth knowing about.
And in their latest exercise in investigative aplomb, radiologists from the University of Rome tested virtual colonoscopy against back-to-back conventional colonoscopy, giving Rex et al a run for their money.
Be sure to scroll through the articles below for more on VC and colorectal cancer, all in your Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community.
