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Dr. Larry Chespak, an experienced radiologist-turned Web entrepreneur, long ago developed an eye for X-ray precision.
Yet, he'll be the first to tell his colleagues and patients that appearances can be deceiving.
"It has been shown that doctors overlook up to 17 percent of breast cancers during routine screening mammography," Chespak said.
To cut that number, Chespak recently launched a Web site encouraging specifically San Diego doctors and women to send in mammograms for a second computer-aided read.
He said the FDA-approved computerized system, dubbed ImageChecker, was developed by R2 Technology in Los Altos. The system can help detect between 15 and 20 percent of cancers that may have slipped by the adiologist's eye.
Called iMammogram.com, which made its debut on the Internet on Feb. 8, it charges women $75 per reading. The idea is for women who had their mammogram taken to retrieve it from the medical facility and send it to iMammogram.com for an additional read.
Any abnormalities detected by the computerized system would be marked, then sent back to the imaging center for another interpretation, Chespak said.
All mammograms are digitized and stored at iMammogram.com for future comparisons or sale (at $20 each) in case the image is lost in the medical facility, Chespak said.
Manageable Market Size
Chespak founded iMammogram.com last year.
The Westlake Village-based radiologist has no intention of giving up his private practice, which is comprised of six doctors. To the contrary, he hopes once his idea takes off, he'll hire a CEO...