Digital mammography in Japan

Digital mammography has been proposed as an alternative to screen-film mammography. Previous publications have reported the equivalent performance of digital and film mammography [1, 2], and digital mammography has some advantages over film mammography [3, 4],including many technical advantages, including image-enhancement capability, faster image acquisition, and better storage and transmission for archiving. Its full potential can only be achieved through soft-copy reading.

More than 70% of the facilities in Japan have digital mammography systems. However, most of the digital mammography systems use computed radiographic mammography and only about 10% of the facilities have full-field digital mammography systems. In addition, there are few facilities with soft-copy reading of digital mammography in Japan. This situation is remarkable, because most of the digital mammography systems worldwide are full-field digital mammography systems with soft-copy reading.

Because the soft-copy reading of digital mammography involves very complex processes, some issues have been raised. For the special articles in this issue, a group of recognized and experienced experts, based on the Mammography Subcommittee of the Japan Radiological Society, were assembled. These experts have put together a monograph on digital mammography. The special articles provide a comprehensive review and update on digital mammography, especially in Japan. They will serve as an excellent reference source for anyone interested in digital mammography.