What does "Digital Breast Tomosynthesis" mean?

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Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is a special type of breast imaging that helps doctors find cancer. Unlike regular mammograms that take flat pictures of the breast, DBT creates a series of images from different angles. These images are then put together to form a 3D view of the breast.

This 3D view allows for better detection of abnormalities, making it easier for doctors to spot small cancers that might be missed in traditional imaging. DBT is especially useful because it can reduce the chances of false positives, which means fewer patients may have to go through unnecessary tests or treatments.

However, creating accurate models to help analyze DBT images can be tricky. It requires a lot of annotated data, which are images that have been marked by experts to show what to look for. Because getting these quality annotations can be expensive and time-consuming, new methods are being developed to make this process easier and more efficient.