Dr. Martins and her team (formed by four radiologists) read an average of 35 prostate MRIs a week, which brings the total average to about 1,500 exams a year. That number is rapidly increasing due to the change in guidelines for PCa diagnosis published by the European Association of Urology (EAU) and American College of Radiology (ACR).

Additionally, Dr. Martins and her team designed a workflow that allows them to offer the best quality of care to their patients. The workflow includes a double reading of each scan, which doubles the time spent per case.

Dr. Martins’ main challenges

The increasing volume of scans, and their time-consuming workflow, caused delays in transmission of radiology reports to referring urologists. Producing an excellent report with figures, resumes, images, and a conclusion based on the expertise of the radiologists takes a lot of time, even with the help of the IT team.

Reducing the interpretation time of prostate MRI is key for dedicating more time to patients, which is essential for Dr. Martins to personalize each case in order to achieve the best care possible.

To reduce the reading time required to interpret all exams and produce rigorous reports that are complete and easy to understand by the urologist, Dr. Martins decided to look for a solution to support their prostate MRI reading process.

“For me it was crucial to find a solution that reduced the assessment time of my patient scans so I can have more quality time for patients and personalized discussion during MDTs,” said Dr. Martins.

Introducing Saige Prostate (formerly Quantib® Prostate) to reduce workload

After reading about Saige Prostate online, Dr. Martins met our team for a presentation and a demo of Saige Prostate. She was eager to start working with the solution from the outset, as it met her most important criteria. Dr. Martins found the interface of the software to be intuitive and easy to use, and the solution showed great potential to reduce the overall time it takes to read every prostate MRI exam.

After she started working with the solution, she found that the AI that powers the analyses helps her double-check her assessments and supports further checks of other areas of the prostate that could show pathological findings.

The report generated by Saige Prostate includes everything she wishes to incorporate in a report. She also finds that the colored representations of the lesions are a valuable addition to the report that increases the readability of the document.

“Our interaction with Saige Prostate was very professional but, at the same time, familiar. We deeply appreciated that because, for us, the human aspect is very important,” Dr. Martins said.

The clinical impact of Saige Prostate

Although the team is only in the first phase of the process when it comes to using Saige Prostate, Dr. Martins is excited about how representative the images and schematizations are. She is enthusiastic about the quality of results Saige Prostate delivers, and she has confirmed that the segmentation of the gland performed by the AI software is better than the one they would get from the traditional manual procedure.

Also, Dr. Martins believes the solution can support the training of radiologists and improve the learning experience, as well as facilitate the work of radiologists with vast experience in the field of prostate MRI.

The most valuable improvement can be found in the reduced time spent per scan that allows Dr. Martins and her team to cope with the increasing workload while maintaining the high quality standard of their workflow. This, in combination with a higher personalization of the cases and more time to attend multidisciplinary discussions, allows the team to provide their patients with a better diagnosis and care.

“Saige Prostate helped me decrease my reporting times significantly, so I can get more cases done in a day. Additionally, the ease-of-use of Saige Prostate makes the software a joy to work with,” said Dr. Martins.

• Uro-radiology specialist with international experience
• Currently working in Geneva

• The center’s mission is to provide high-quality care to patients that suffer from prostatic disease. Patients receive excellent care throughout the entire clinical progress, from diagnosis to treatment.
• The SIPC is a team of experienced healthcare professionals that leverages technical solutions to diagnose, evaluate, and treat patients.