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Semiautomatic estimation of breast density with DM-Scan software
I Martínez Gómez1, M Casals El Busto2, J Antón Guirao3
1Programa de Cribado de Cáncer de Mama de la Comunidad Valenciana, Unidad de Alzira, Alzira, Valencia, España.
Objective:
To evaluate the reproducibility of the calculation of breast density with DM-Scan software, which is based on the semiautomatic segmentation of fibroglandular tissue, and to compare it with the reproducibility of estimation by visual inspection.
Material And Methods:
The study included 655 direct digital mammograms acquired using craniocaudal projections. Three experienced radiologists analyzed the density of the mammograms using DM-Scan, and the inter- and intra-observer agreement between pairs of radiologists for the Boyd and BI-RADS® scales were calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient. The Kappa index was used to compare the inter- and intra-observer agreements with those obtained previously for visual inspection in the same set of images.
Results:
For visual inspection, the mean interobserver agreement was 0,876 (95% CI: 0,873-0,879) on the Boyd scale and 0,823 (95% CI: 0,818-0,829) on the BI-RADS® scale. The mean intraobserver agreement was 0,813 (95% CI: 0,796-0,829) on the Boyd scale and 0,770 (95% CI: 0,742-0,797) on the BI-RADS® scale. For DM-Scan, the mean inter- and intra-observer agreement was 0,92, considerably higher than the agreement for visual inspection.
Conclusion:
The semiautomatic calculation of breast density using DM-Scan software is more reliable and reproducible than visual estimation and reduces the subjectivity and variability in determining breast density.
