Mercury Computer Systems Inc. and NVIDIA Corp. announced during the European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, Austria, the first results of Mercury's partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), in which Mercury greatly reduced the image reconstruction time for the 3-D mammography technique developed by MGH from five hours to five minutes -- a 60x performance increase using NVIDIA technology. Traditional mammography imaging relies on 2D X-ray images in which growths can be obscured and undetected. Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) reconstructs a 3-D-volume from a series of 2-D projection images taken over an arc of 50 degrees. With DBT, physicians can "page through" the interior of the breast without the superimposition of the other tissues. The DBT method involves vast amounts of computation, which previously took far too long to be clinically viable. Mercury engineers worked with the Breast Imaging Division at MGH to enhance its innovative technique using Mercury image processing expertise and mathematical optimizations, greatly reducing the image processing time and preserving high-image clarity. Combined with a unique image processing solution that uses enhanced NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics processor technology, Mercury achieved unprecedented image reconstruction results. "DBT will enable physicians to find more cancers earlier, while simultaneously it will reduce many of the false alarms that occur using conventional mammography," said Daniel B. Kopans, director of the Breast Imaging Division at MGH. "This will reduce the overall cost of breast cancer screening while improving its accuracy. Moreover, the DBT technique will eliminate the need for patients to endure additional examination time or X-ray doses." According to the latest American Cancer Society statistics, one woman in every seven will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Early detection using screening mammography has been scientifically shown to reduce the death rate by 30 percent. In the United States, the death rate from breast cancer has dropped 20 percent in the last decade, largely due to widespread use of conventional screening mammography. Building on these successes, DBT's superior ability to display lesions that can be obscured in conventional mammography could increase the chance of early detection and an even further reduced death rate. As part of its strategic alliance announced in November 2004, Mercury is working with NVIDIA, a leading provider of graphics and digital media processors, to innovate and deliver cost-effective 3-D image processing solutions for the life sciences markets. "NVIDIA is very enthusiastic about partnering with Mercury on the leading edge of enhancing this image processing technology for commercial application," said Jeff Brown, general manager of professional products at NVIDIA. "Our alliance enables us to collaborate with Mercury on potentially life-saving medical applications." Mercury and MGH are working to move the DBT imaging technique from the laboratory to widespread clinical use, and are continuing their collaboration to improve cancer detection and diagnosis. "Mercury is proud to be an integral part of this innovative solution for breast cancer detection, which enables doctors to detect breast cancer earlier and with greater accuracy than ever before, and thus give peace of mind to patients and their families," said Marcelo Lima, vice president of Life Sciences, Imaging and Visualization Solutions at Mercury Computer Systems.