Current status of computer-aided detection of breast cancer

Computer-assisted detection (CAD), which was introduced in the 1960s, is being increasingly incorporated into diagnostic imaging practice. Several commercial CAD systems designed for different imaging modalities and disease sites are now available to help radiologists detect cancer, perform diagnostic workups of suspicious findings, and stage newly diagnosed cancers. These CAD systems reduce false-negative rates by identifying subtle findings that would otherwise be missed by even experienced radiologists. In addition, most CAD systems can perform repetitive pattern matching and mark suspicious areas, which may help reduce detection errors during the analysis of highvolume workloads and enable radiologists to spend more time performing complex tasks such as tissue biopsies.