Digital X-Ray Takes the "Squeeze" Out of Mammography

Posted September 06, 2002


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Sept. 6, 2002 2002-09-03-ENG

Digital X-Ray Takes the "Squeeze" Out of Mammography

Mammograms could soon become less painful, cheaper and more effective in
detecting breast cancer, thanks to the work of a University of Saskatchewan
researcher and colleagues across Canada.

Their work has led to a new type of digital X-ray image detector for
mammography that is poised to revolutionize medical imaging. Preliminary
feedback from radiologists indicates that this technology will be a major
factor in the fight against breast cancer, enabling them to detect cancer at
an earlier stage.

U of S electrical engineering professor Safa Kasap and his graduate students
have developed a photoconductor, a semiconductor alloy, that generates an
electrical charge when exposed to X-rays. This is the key component in a new
X-ray image detector for mammography being developed by Anrad Corporation
(formerly Noranda Advanced Materials) in Montreal.

The detector is currently in the last stage of clinical trials and is
expected to hit commercial markets early next year. Larger detectors that
can image the entire chest are also being developed.

With this technology, an X-ray is passed through the breast tissue to the
photoconductor where it is instantly converted to an electronic signal that
produces a digital image on a computer screen. While the image still looks
like a traditional X-ray, the procedure eliminates costly film processing
and the need for doctors to view X-ray films.

"It works so fast you could think of it as a digital X-ray camera," said
Kasap. "The detector will allow medical personnel to take a digital X-ray
in rural Saskatchewan that can be immediately sent by wireless technology to
Royal University Hospital (Saskatoon) or as far as the Mayo Clinic for
analysis."

It can image a wide area of the breast and, in principle, produce a higher
resolution image than conventional X-rays.

Perhaps the best part of digital radiology is that it would probably require
less breast compression than traditional X-ray imaging. The new X-ray
detector can read a wider range of X-ray intensities than can conventional
film, producing a higher quality image. The breast must still be held
firmly in place during X-ray imaging, but without such intense pressure or
discomfort.

The driving force behind development of the detector was one of Kasap's
graduate students, Brad Polischuk. After graduating with a Ph.D. in 1993,
Polischuk went on to work as a research engineer for Anrad. He is now
Anrad's Vice-President of Research.

"In 1989, our work at the U of S under Dr. Kasap was at the forefront of
research into photoconductor materials," said Polischuk. "The technology
was still in its infancy at that time, but many of today's achievements can
be linked back to that early work."

The original idea for the detector came from John Rowlands of Sunnybrook and
Women's College Health Sciences Centre at University of Toronto (U of T),
one of the research coalition partners.

While Anrad finishes clinical trials of the digital detector in Europe and
North America,
Kasap is looking for ways to improve the photoconductor and decrease X-ray
exposure.

He also hopes to create an "all-purpose" digital X-ray image detector that
could be used, for example, in security screening or in X-ray diffraction
studies that probe the structure and function of protein crystals. The
latter work would complement crystallography experiments at the Canadian
Light Source synchrotron (www.cls.usask.ca) under construction at the U of
S.

The project was funded by NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada), Sunnybrook and Women's (U of T), U of S, Anrad Corp.,
the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and the U.S. National Institute of
Health.

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For more information, contact:

Professor Safa Kasap
Electrical Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 966-5390

Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 966-2506