Tomosynthesis adds to mammography interpretation time

Adding tomosynthesis to mammography for breast cancer screening increases interpretation time when compared with conventional digital mammography alone, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Phoebe Freer and colleagues gathered 10 radiologists to read digital mammography alone or combined tomosynthesis/mammography screening examinations in batch mode for one-hour uninterrupted sessions. The group took into consideration the experience level of each radiologist and differences in the number of studies read per hour.

They found that adding tomosynthesis to mammography increased reading time. Estimating this difference reliably is key to preparing for tomosynthesis' effects on radiologist workload, they concluded.