Digital optical card. A promising technology for documentation and communication of images.

To assess a patient-oriented digital optical card (OC) for documentation and communication of images using the analysis of breast microcalcifications to illustrate its resolution power.Fifty film mammograms with histologically proved clustered microcalcifications were digitized using a 5 lp/mm CCD-scanner. A region of interest containing the cluster was selected for documentation on an OC as an overview OC-image and as a magnified OC-image (5 lp/mm). The shape (spherical/nonspherical) as well as the total number of microcalcifications were quantitatively analyzed by 2 radiologists.The detection rate for total number of overall and spherical microcalcifications using digital media was significantly reduced (p < 0.01) compared to analog mammography. There were no significant differences in the detection rate of nonspherical microcalcifications between film mammograms (100%) and magnified section OC-images (92.7%). The overview OC-image revealed 72% of those calcifications (p < 0.01).According to our results, this technology is not appropriate for diagnosis of breast microcalcifications, but may be a promising communication digital medium for transmitting an image/report unit to referring physicians.