The Evolution of Breast Imaging: Past to Present

Abstract

The practice of breast imaging has transitioned through a wide variety of technologic advances from the early days of direct-exposure film mammography to xeromammography to screen-film mammography to the current era of full-field digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis. Along with these technologic advances, organized screening, federal regulations based on the Mammography Quality Standards Act, and the development of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System have helped to shape the specialty of breast imaging. With the development of breast ultrasonography and breast magnetic resonance imaging, both complementary to mammography, additional algorithms for diagnostic workup and screening high-risk subgroups of women have emerged. A substantial part of breast imaging practice these days also involves breast interventional procedures-both percutaneous biopsy to obtain tissue diagnosis and localization procedures to guide surgical excision. This article reviews the evolution of breast imaging starting from a historical perspective and progressing to the present day.

An Official American Thoracic Society Research Statement: A Research Framework for Pulmonary Nodule Evaluation and Management

“…The American College of Radiology created the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) to address a similar barrier (90) and could serve as a guide for nodule registries. This system was developed with input from multiple stakeholders, initially to support the needs of clinicians to better understand and use the information contained in radiology reports.…”

The Empirical Foundations of Teleradiology and Related Applications: A Review of the Evidence

“…1,2 It utilizes a often directly in contact with patients during examinations. 11 Radiologists are medical doctors trained in diagnosing and treating injuries and diseases using the images acquired by various modalities and they also perform a variety of minimally invasive interventions such as biopsies and embolization to block blood flow.…”

In situ validation of VEGFR-2 and α v ß 3 integrin as targets for breast lesion characterization

“…The addition of molecularly-targeted imaging procedures to mammography for characterizing suspect breast lesions has been shown to improve specificity of the diagnostic evaluation and to reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies [31]. Based on preclinical reports, potential molecular imaging devices might be based on intravascularly circulating molecularly-targeted microbubbles accessing molecular targets on the luminal surface of the activated endothelium in tumors, or might be based on small-sized extravasating peptides targeted against aberrantly expressed proteins on the surface of cancer cells or cancerassociated (stromal) cells.…”

“…However, while whole-breast screening using ultrasound has been suffering from high operator-dependence for years [32], recent technological developments in automated 3D breast sonography (resulting in reduced inter-observer variability) significantly promote the applicability of whole-breast ultrasound as a screening tool [31,33]. In this context, molecular ultrasound imaging, which utilizes intravenously injected microbubbles targeted against angiogenesis marker proteins expressed on the luminal surface of activated endothelium, might become a fast-operable and low-cost addition to the diagnostic evaluation of breast masses using sonography (in contrast to DCE-MRI, PET or SPECT).…”