Using a mobile device for margin assessment of specimen mammography in breast-conserving surgery

To compare the performance of margin assessment of specimen mammography (SM) in patients with breast-conserving surgery (BCS) on mobile devices and 5-megapixel (5M) thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) monitors based on the safety margin for pathologic results. This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and the requirement for informed consent was waived. A total of 105 consecutive breast cancer SM samples from 104 women who underwent BCS were included in the study. The SM were independently reviewed by two radiologists using mobile devices and by two additional radiologists using 5M TFT-LCD monitor. Each reader was asked to measure the shortest distance between the lesion and the lesion margin. The interpretation time was recorded. The sensitivity, specificity, and interobserver agreement were analyzed. In total, 19% (20/105) breast specimens had a positive surgical margin (<1 mm). The mean absolute difference from the pathologic margin was 0.60 +/- 0.57 cm and 0.54 +/- 0.47 cm using the 5 M TFT-LCD monitor and the mobile device, respectively (without any statistical significance, P = .273). The mean interpretation time was 49.5 and 47.6 s for the 5M TFT-LCD monitor and the mobile device, respectively (P = .012). The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 60% and 74% for 5M TFT-LCD monitor, and 60% and 69% for the mobile device (P = 1.00 and P = .190, respectively). The kappa coefficient indicated moderate agreement for both the displays. The diagnostic performance for margin assessment of SM in BCS patients on mobile devices and 5M TFT-LCD monitors are showed not statistically difference. The findings of the study provide evidence of the benefit of the mobile device for SM interpretation in patients who underwent BCS. However, a large sample size study is warranted before using a mobile device for margin evaluation on SM. The mobile device showed comparable diagnostic performance with 5M TFT-LCD monitor in the evaluation of SM margin in patients with BCS and could be used as a display tool for immediate assessment when a dedicated LCD monitor is unavailable.

Automated summary

The study compared the performance of margin assessment of specimen mammography (SM) on mobile devices and 5-megapixel thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) monitors in patients with breast-conserving surgery (BCS). The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in diagnostic performance between the two display methods.