Reliability and Measurement Error of Breast Volume Calculation Using Three-Dimensional Surface Imaging

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Breast lymphedema quantification is challenging.
• Three-dimensional surface imaging (3D-SI) is a potential method for breast volume measurement.
• The measurement properties of 3D-SI software require thorough evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare measurement equivalency between two 3D-SI software programs: Vectra 3D Analysis Module (VAM) and Breast Sculptor.
• To assess the reliability, standard error of measurement (SEM), and smallest detectable change (SDC) of these software programs.
• To determine the clinical utility of 3D-SI for quantifying breast lymphedema.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 100 3D-SI scans of breasts from breast cancer patients.
• Three assessors used standardized techniques with VAM and Breast Sculptor software.
• Evaluated intra- and inter-rater reliability, SEM, and SDC for both software programs.

Main Results:

• VAM demonstrated excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability (SEM: 4.1% and 8.7%).
• Breast Sculptor showed excellent intra-rater and substantial inter-rater reliability, but with larger SEM (14.5% and 19.1%).
• Lin's concordance indicated poor agreement between the two software programs (0.81-0.88).

Conclusions:

• VAM software provides highly reliable breast volume measurements with lower error compared to Breast Sculptor.
• Significant variations in SEM and SDC exist between the software programs.
• While promising for lymphedema assessment, further improvements in 3D-SI software are needed to enhance clinical utility.