Stereoscopic digital mammography: perceptual and display factors leading to improved early detection of breast cancer

Stereoscopic digital mammography holds the promise of improving the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer compared to standard planar views. A stereo mammogram provides the radiologist with an in depth view of the breast, in which a subtle lesion is directly seen volumetrically. The increased detection sensitivity from stereo seems to arise from the separation of overlying and underlying normal tissue from the lesion, and also from capabilities provided to the reader to manipulate characteristics of the displayed stereo image. In a recently completed project, stereo mammography was shown to significantly improve diagnostic accuracy and led to detection of a significant number of new lesions in the stereo mammograms that were not detected in the films.