Joyce Glasgold and her daughter, Ellen Glasgold Lange, know firsthand how important early detection can be in breast cancer, which is why a generous gift from the Glasgold Family Foundation made possible the purchase of an ultrasound reading platform powered by artificial intelligence. From left: Alexandra Lange, Ellen Glasgold Lange, Joyce Glasgold, Olivia Lange, and Trevor Lange.
When it comes to breast cancer, Joyce Glasgold and her daughter, Ellen Glasgold Lange, know firsthand how important early detection can be.
Joyce Glasgold’s mother died of breast cancer, and many of her family members had the disease. Mrs. Glasgold herself was diagnosed in 1991 at age 50. Fifteen years later, her daughter Ellen was diagnosed with lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), a condition that indicates an increased risk of developing breast cancer and that, along with her family history, led her to have a bilateral mastectomy.
So when they learned about Koios DS Breast—an AI-powered, ultrasound-reading software platform that can spot cancer in two seconds—they were eager to make it available to women throughout New York City. A generous gift from the Glasgold Family Foundation to the Department of Radiology supported the purchase and installation of the software at The Mount Sinai Hospital, ensuring that physicians have advanced technology to aid them in making rapid, accurate diagnoses and reducing unnecessary biopsies.
This is particularly important for women with dense breasts, which can make it much more difficult to spot cancers. Nearly 50 percent of women over age 40 have dense breast tissue, and mammograms miss more than half of cancers present in those individuals. These women often require an ultrasound in addition to mammography to capture images of areas of the breast that may be harder to see.
“This new software potentially allows us to increase the ability of breast ultrasound to find cancer that might have gone undetected,” says Laurie R. Margolies, MD, FACR, FSBI, System Chief of Breast Imaging for the Mount Sinai Health System. “The radiologists at Mount Sinai are excited to be able to use cutting-edge technologies for the betterment of our robust ultrasound screening program and the benefit of all our patients.”
Using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Koios DS Breast compares ultrasounds to an archive of hundreds of thousands of images from patients from around the world with confirmed benign or malignant diagnoses, providing radiologists with an instant “second opinion” in classifying suspicious lesions. The technology not only helps clinicians identify cancer sooner so patients can begin treatment as quickly as possible, but it also reduces the need for biopsies in benign tissues.
Because the Mount Sinai Health System serves a large and diverse patient population, the Glasgolds are also pleased that women from medically underserved communities will now have access to state-of-the-art diagnostics.
“We all know that catching breast cancer early saves lives, so our family was compelled to accelerate the adoption of this exciting new innovation,” says Joyce Glasgold. “We are honored and thrilled to help bring this game-changing technology to Mount Sinai.”