iCAD, Inc. launched a new version of its VeraLook computer-aided detection (CAD) technology for CT colonography (CTC), or virtual colonoscopy.
VeraLook detects and highlights potential polyps during CTC examinations. The newest version of VeraLook features performance improvements including a greater than 5% increase in the sensitivity of potential polyp detection, and a 20% reduction in false positives.
In Europe, approximately 212,000 people die from colon cancer each year. When caught early, colon cancer is highly treatable but few patients recommended to be screened for colon cancer are actually tested. This reluctance can be directly linked in part to patients’ general discomfort with the traditional colonoscopy process.
Extensive testing with radiologists has demonstrated that the use of VeraLook improved reader sensitivity to all colonic polyps in a statistically significant manner — particularly for smaller, more easily missed polyps and pre-cancerous polyps which can develop into malignancies over time.
VeraLook has also demonstrated high standalone sensitivity to detecting polyps, while generating a low number of clinically acceptable false positive marks on CTC images. Reader and standalone testing was conducted using exams containing various types of polyps including sessile, flat and pedunculated, and on patients prepped using different methodologies.
“VeraLook is already being sold commercially in Europe and Canada, and is an important tool in helping radiologists find colon cancers earlier and with greater confidence,” said Ken Ferry, president and CEO of iCAD. “Virtual colonoscopy with CAD is a breakthrough technology that can make this potentially life-saving test accessible to a greater number of people.”
Bichat Hospital in Paris has recently integrated the new VeraLook technology for CTC, used with a Viatronix V3D workstation, into its clinical practice. CTC employs cutting-edge, advanced visualization technology to produce three-dimensional images that permit a thorough and minimally invasive evaluation of the entire colorectal structure and is an accurate alternative to colonoscopy to detect polyps.
Since it requires no sedation, patients undergoing a CTC exam are able to return to their normal activities immediately following the examination.
VeraLook has been available in Europe since June 2009 under its initial CE Mark and is pending FDA clearance in the US.