Mammography technology developer Sigmascreening announced more than 100,000 women have received mammographic compression with its Sensitive Sigma Paddle.
The firm also announced a study presented at RSNA 2018 that demonstrates the impact of a real-time pressure indicator during mammographic exam acquisition. In the study, researchers evaluated the effect on compression practice when replacing the pressure-based paddle with a conventional paddle without pressure indication in a group experienced technologists.
They found after removal of the pressure indicator, the average compression pressure and variance significantly increased, leading to more unfavorable over- and undercompression. The proportion of compressions in the pressure range 5 kPa to 15 kPa decreased from 87.4% to 77.9%. The proportion of high pressures (> 15 kPa) nearly doubled (11.0% to 18.8%) and low pressures (< 5 kPa) more than doubled (1.6% to 3.3%). The results indicate when removing the pressure indicator, compression variability increased rapidly, suggesting an indicator is needed to maintain compression reproducibility.
