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- Alterbeck, Max, et al.
(author)
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A pilot study of an organised population-based testing programme for prostate cancer
- 2024
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In: BJU International. - 1464-4096. ; 133:1, s. 87-95
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ObjectiveTo determine the feasibility of a digitally automated population-based programme for organised prostate cancer testing (OPT) in Southern Sweden.Patients and MethodsA pilot project for a regional OPT was conducted between September 2020 and February 2021, inviting 999 randomly selected men aged 50, 56, or 62 years. Risk stratification was based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, PSA density (PSAD), and bi-parametric prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Men with a PSA level of 3-99 ng/mL had an MRI, and men with elevated PSA level (& GE;3 ng/mL) had a urological check-up, including a digital rectal examination and transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS). Indications for targeted and/or systematic transrectal prostate biopsies were suspicious lesions on MRI (Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System [PI-RADS] 4-5) and/or PSAD > 0.15 ng/mL/mL. Additional indications for prostate biopsies were palpable tumours, PSA ratio < 0.1, or cancer suspicion on TRUS. Patient selection, mail correspondence, data collection, and algorithm processing were performed by an automated digital management system. Feasibility is reported descriptively.ResultsA total of 418 men had a PSA test (42%), with increasing participation rates by age (50 years, 38%; 56 years, 44%; and 62 years, 45%). Among these, 35 men (8%) had elevated PSA levels (& GE;3 ng/mL: one of 139, aged 50 years; 10/143, aged 56 years; and 24/146, aged 62 years). On MRI, 16 men (48%) had a negative scan (PI-RADS < 3), seven men (21%) had PI-RADS 3, nine men (27%) had PI-RADS 4, and one man (3%) had PI-RADS 5. All men with PI-RADS 4 or 5 underwent prostate biopsies, as well as two men with PI-RADS 3 due to PSAD > 0.15 ng/mL/mL or a suspicious finding on TRUS. Prostate cancer was diagnosed in 10 men. Six men underwent active treatment, whereas four men were assigned to active surveillance.ConclusionOur OPT model is feasible from an operational point of view, but due to the limited scale of this study no conclusions can be made regarding the efficacy of the diagnostic model or outcome.
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- Andersson, Elisabeth, et al.
(author)
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Surveillance of indeterminate pulmonary nodules detected with CT in a Swedish population-based study (SCAPIS) : Psychosocial consequences and impact on health-related quality of life - A multicentre prospective cross-sectional study
- 2021
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In: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 11:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives: To investigate whether surveillance of pulmonary nodules detected with low-dose CT (LDCT) impacted health-related quality of life and psychosocial consequences in the Swedish population-based study, Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS).Design: A prospective cross-sectional study.Settings and participants: This multicentre (five sites) observational study, which included a cohort from SCAPIS, consisted of 632 participants with indeterminate pulmonary nodules detected with LDCT. These participants continued surveillance for up to 36 months, during which lung cancer was not detected (surveillance group). Additionally, 972 participants with a negative pulmonary LDCT scan were included as a control group. Matching criteria were LDCT date (±2 weeks), gender and site.Outcome measures: All participants completed a health-related quality of life questionnaire (RAND-36) and the Consequences of Screening (COS) questionnaire, an average of 3 years after LDCT was conducted at entry into SCAPIS.Results: Participants were 51-70 years old at study commencement. Overall, the two groups did not differ in demographic or psychosocial variables, smoking habits or pulmonary medical history. Individuals from countries other than Sweden and those with low socioeconomic status were less likely to participate (p<0.001). No effects on health-related quality of life were observed via RAND-36. In COS, the surveillance group demonstrated a higher OR for anxiety about lung cancer (OR 3.96, 95% CI 2.35 to 6.66, p<0.001), experiencing a sense of dejection (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.72, p=0.015) and thoughts about existential values (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.60, p=0.018).Conclusions: Lung surveillance with LDCT contributed to significant experiences of sense of dejection, anxiety about lung cancer and development of thoughts about existential values among participants in the surveillance group compared with the controls. The risk of side effects should be communicated for informed decision-making about (non-)attendance in lung cancer screening.
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- Begano, Dino, et al.
(author)
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TO USE OR NOT USE PATIENT SHIELDING ON PREGNANT WOMEN UNDERGOING CT PULMONARY ANGIOGRAPHY : A PHANTOM STUDY
- 2020
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In: Radiation Protection Dosimetry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1742-3406 .- 0144-8420. ; 189:4, s. 458-465
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pregnancy increases the risk of pulmonary embolism. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is used for diagnosis. CT generates ionising radiation, and thus, abdominal shielding may be used. This phantom study investigated the effects of patient shielding and scan length reduction on the fetal and maternal ionising radiation dose from CTPA. The absorbed dose to the fetus was measured using thermoluminescent dosemeters. Estimated effective doses to the pregnant patient were based on the dose-length products. Shielding increased both the effective dose to the patient by 47% and the mean absorbed dose to the fetus (0.10 vs. 0.12 mGy; p < 0.001) compared with unshielded standard CTPA, as it affected the automatic exposure control. Shielded short CTPA marginally lowered only the mean fetal absorbed dose (0.03 vs. 0.02 mGy; p = 0.018). Shortening the scan reduced the fetal absorbed dose most effectively by 70% (0.10 vs. 0.03 mGy; p = 0.006), compared with the standard unshielded scan. Shielding modestly reduces fetal radiation dose but may compromise automatic exposure control, possibly increasing the maternal and fetal radiation dose. Shortening the scan is beneficial, assuming anatomical coverage is secured.
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4. |
- Boita, Joana, et al.
(author)
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Development and content validity evaluation of a candidate instrument to assess image quality in digital mammography : A mixed-method study
- 2021
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In: European Journal of Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0720-048X. ; 134
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To develop a candidate instrument to assess image quality in digital mammography, by identifying clinically relevant features in images that are affected by lower image quality. Methods: Interviews with fifteen expert breast radiologists from five countries were conducted and analysed by using adapted directed content analysis. During these interviews, 45 mammographic cases, containing 44 lesions (30 cancers, 14 benign findings), and 5 normal cases, were shown with varying image quality. The interviews were performed to identify the structures from breast tissue and lesions relevant for image interpretation, and to investigate how image quality affected the visibility of those structures. The interview findings were used to develop tentative items, which were evaluated in terms of wording, understandability, and ambiguity with expert breast radiologists. The relevance of the tentative items was evaluated using the content validity index (CVI) and modified kappa index (k*). Results: Twelve content areas, representing the content of image quality in digital mammography, emerged from the interviews and were converted into 29 tentative items. Fourteen of these items demonstrated excellent CVI ≥ 0.78 (k* > 0.74), one showed good CVI < 0.78 (0.60 ≤ k* ≤ 0.74), while fourteen were of fair or poor CVI < 0.78 (k* ≤ 0.59). In total, nine items were deleted and five were revised or combined resulting in 18 items. Conclusions: By following a mixed-method methodology, a candidate instrument was developed that may be used to characterise the clinically-relevant impact that image quality variations can have on digital mammography.
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- Boita, Joana, et al.
(author)
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How does image quality affect radiologists’ perceived ability for image interpretation and lesion detection in digital mammography?
- 2021
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In: European Radiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0938-7994 .- 1432-1084. ; 31:7, s. 5335-5343
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives: To study how radiologists’ perceived ability to interpret digital mammography (DM) images is affected by decreases in image quality. Methods: One view from 45 DM cases (including 30 cancers) was degraded to six levels each of two acquisition-related issues (lower spatial resolution and increased quantum noise) and three post-processing-related issues (lower and higher contrast and increased correlated noise) seen during clinical evaluation of DM systems. The images were shown to fifteen breast screening radiologists from five countries. Aware of lesion location, the radiologists selected the most-degraded mammogram (indexed from 1 (reference) to 7 (most degraded)) they still felt was acceptable for interpretation. The median selected index, per degradation type, was calculated separately for calcification and soft tissue (including normal) cases. Using the two-sided, non-parametric Mann-Whitney test, the median indices for each case and degradation type were compared. Results: Radiologists were not tolerant to increases (medians: 1.5 (calcifications) and 2 (soft tissue)) or decreases (median: 2, for both types) in contrast, but were more tolerant to correlated noise (median: 3, for both types). Increases in quantum noise were tolerated more for calcifications than for soft tissue cases (medians: 3 vs. 4, p = 0.02). Spatial resolution losses were considered less acceptable for calcification detection than for soft tissue cases (medians: 3.5 vs. 5, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Perceived ability of radiologists for image interpretation in DM was affected not only by image acquisition-related issues but also by image post-processing issues, and some of those issues affected calcification cases more than soft tissue cases. Key Points: • Lower spatial resolution and increased quantum noise affected the radiologists’ perceived ability to interpret calcification cases more than soft tissue lesion or normal cases. • Post-acquisition image processing-related effects, not only image acquisition-related effects, also impact the perceived ability of radiologists to interpret images and detect lesions. • In addition to current practices, post-acquisition image processing-related effects need to also be considered during the testing and evaluation of digital mammography systems.
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- Boita, Joana, et al.
(author)
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Validation of a candidate instrument to assess image quality in digital mammography using ROC analysis
- 2021
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In: European Journal of Radiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-7727 .- 0720-048X. ; 139
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeTo validate a candidate instrument, to be used by different professionals to assess image quality in digital mammography (DM), against detection performance results.MethodsA receiver operating characteristics (ROC) study was conducted to assess the detection performance in DM images with four different image quality levels due to different quality issues. Fourteen expert breast radiologists from five countries assessed a set of 80 DM cases, containing 60 lesions (40 cancers, 20 benign findings) and 20 normal cases. A visual grading analysis (VGA) study using a previously-described candidate instrument was conducted to evaluate a subset of 25 of the images used in the ROC study. Eight radiologists that had participated in the ROC study, and seven expert breast-imaging physicists, evaluated this subset. The VGA score (VGAS) and the ROC and visual grading characteristics (VGC) areas under the curve (AUCROC and AUCVGC) were compared.ResultsNo large differences in image quality among the four levels were detected by either ROC or VGA studies. However, the ranking of the four levels was consistent: level 1 (partial AUCROC: 0.070, VGAS: 6.77) performed better than levels 2 (0.066, 6.15), 3 (0.061, 5.82), and 4 (0.062, 5.37). Similarity between radiologists’ and physicists’ assessments was found (average VGAS difference of 10 %).ConclusionsThe results from the candidate instrument were found to correlate with those from ROC analysis, when used by either observer group. Therefore, it may be used by different professionals, such as radiologists, radiographers, and physicists, to assess clinically-relevant image quality variations in DM.
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7. |
- Bolejko, Anetta, et al.
(author)
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Facilitators for and barriers to radiography research in public healthcare in Nordic countries
- 2022
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In: Radiography. - : Elsevier BV. - 1078-8174. ; 28:1, s. 88-94
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction:It has been suggested that the future of diagnostic imaging relies on engagement inresearch and evidence-based practice. This implies a role transition from a clinical radiographer to aclinical radiographer-researcher. Clinical radiographers’stimuli for engaging in research in Nordiccountries are unknown. This study aimed to address this gap.Methods:Cross-sectional data collection via an online questionnaire on facilitators for and barriers toparticipation in radiography research was carried out among 507 clinical radiographers in publichealthcare in the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.Results:Support from colleagues (odds ratio [OR] 2.62) and other professionals (OR 2.74), and self-esteem in research skills (OR2.21), were facilitators for radiography research. Lack of knowledgeand skills to conduct research (OR 2.48) was revealed to hinder radiographers’participation in research.The absence of a radiography research culture in the workplace explained non-participation in research(OR 1.75).Conclusion:This study revealed significant factors for clinical radiographers’participation in research.Implications for practice:A strategy for establishing a radiography research culture in healthcare isproposed that is novel for the context. Management support for knowledge development and activityleading to inter-professional research projects across knowledgefields, provision of a radiographyresearch lead and acknowledgement of radiography research among colleagues signify the establishmentof the culture. These prerequisites might provide a paradigm change towards not only the symbiosis of aclinical radiographer and an autonomous researcher but also a partner who adds radiography research toevidence-based practice in diagnostic imaging.
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- Dahlblom, Victor, et al.
(author)
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Malmö Breast ImaginG database: objectives and development
- 2023
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In: Journal of Medical Imaging. - 2329-4302. ; 10:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeWe describe the design and implementation of the Malmö Breast ImaginG (M-BIG) database, which will support research projects investigating various aspects of current and future breast cancer screening programs. Specifically, M-BIG will provide clinical data to: 1. investigate the effect of breast cancer screening on breast cancer prognosis and mortality; 2. develop and validate the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in breast image interpretation; and 3. develop and validate image-based radiological breast cancer risk profiles.ApproachThe M-BIG database is intended to include a wide range of digital mammography (DM) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) examinations performed on women at the Mammography Clinic in Malmö, Sweden, from the introduction of DM in 2004 through 2020. Subjects may be included multiple times and for diverse reasons. The image data are linked to extensive clinical, diagnostic, and demographic data from several registries.ResultsTo date, the database contains a total of 451,054 examinations from 104,791 women. During the inclusion period, 95,258 unique women were screened. A total of 19,968 examinations were performed using DBT, whereas the rest used DM.ConclusionsWe describe the design and implementation of the M-BIG database as a representative and accessible medical image database linked to various types of medical data. Work is ongoing to add features and curate the existing data.
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