Busy radiologists can rest assured that automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) interpretation times won't gum up the workflow in their practices, according to a study published April 13 in Academic Radiology.
In fact, the mean ABUS interpretation time for radiologists of all experience levels was less than three minutes per examination, concluded a team led by Dr. Ashley Huppe from the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.
The technology shows promise for reducing the operator variability and subjectivity of handheld ultrasound. But some have expressed concern that the time required to interpret ABUS exams may negatively influence workflow.
To investigate the issue, Huppe and colleagues conducted a study that included 99 women with BI-RADS breast density classifications of C ("heterogeneously dense") or D ("extremely dense") who underwent both a digital screening mammogram and an ABUS screening exam between 2013 and 2014. Three radiologists with varying levels of experience read all of the ABUS exams. The researchers recorded interpretation times and the readers' final interpretations.
All readers demonstrated an average ABUS reading time of less than three minutes, Huppe's group found.
"[Our] study results [show] that screening ABUS interpretation times are short and similar to (or less than) those of combined 2D/3D mammography, and may be of benefit for those practices considering acquisition of this technology," the researchers concluded.
