Before purchasing a Mammography Image Station or Mammography Unit, buyers should assess the available configurations and their potential impact on workflow. The operating and staffing costs can be affected by the design of the CAD Mammography system and how it fits into the departmental workflow.
Facilities should also look at the compatibility of the CAD Mammography system with full-field digital mammography systems.
Potential buyers who are currently practicing double reading, or those considering implementing double reading should investigate the cost of CAD Mammography.
CAD Mammography systems may provide a cost-effective means of implementing double reading without the need to add more staff radiologists to smaller facilities with few radiologists.
A CAD Mammography Image Station system required to process images usually does not require human interaction. Therefore, a low-volume center's existing staff should be able to cover the staffing needs of a CAD system; if the center is very busy, an additional clerical-level staff member may be needed to administer CAD Mammography.
The processing rate for different units and the effect on workflow in the facility will determine whether full-time or part-time positions are needed.
Facilities that are waiting for prices to drop down might achieve cost savings, but will not be able to enjoy the benefits of using a CAD Mammography Unit to assist the radiologist in mammogram review.
The overall sensitivity of the system is a major consideration for buyers; a CAD Mammographic Image Digital Analyzer system with high sensitivity will detect a high percentage of cancers.
The term "specificity" refers to the percentage of cancer-free images not marked. In most detection tasks, as the sensitivity is increased, the specificity decreases. Decreased specificity increases radiologist review time. The costs associated with increased sensitivity and those associated with decreased specificity should be balanced.
An additional issue to consider is the film throughput of such CAD Mammography devices.
Standard mammography film should be used, with a bit depth of 14-µm and pixel size of 50 µm.

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