Breast and lung imaging software developer Volpara Health has been awarded a U.S. patent for technology designed to detect and quantify breast arterial calcifications on mammograms.
Building off Volpara's technology for quantitative breast density scoring, U.S. Patent No. 11,246,550 encompasses the use of breast tissue composition and anthropomorphic measures to create a tissue composition map that identifies breast arterial calcifications, according to the vendor. A score can then be generated to indicate the likelihood of heart disease resulting from these calcifications, Volpara said.
"Being able to quantify breast arterial calcifications has the potential to take what are often considered incidental, insignificant findings on a mammogram, and triage patients to cardiac care and interventions," Volpara CEO Ralph Highnam said in a statement.
Volpara now has 99 patents in its global patent portfolio.
