A New Category of Care: A Practitioner's Guide to Proactive, Non-Invasive Screening of Lumps and Bumps

Overview:

In this 1-hour lecture, Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, CCFP, Elite FFCP-V, discusses why early disease detection is vital for the best pet outcomes. While most clinicians would agree with this tenet, more than half of dermal and subcutaneous masses in dogs go undiagnosed, mainly due to the cost and invasiveness of traditional tests. This lecture will discuss how a noninvasive cancer screening tool that uses heat diffusion imaging and artificial intelligence can screen dermal and subcutaneous masses safely. Marks also outlines how this technology does not compete with traditional strategies like FNA, biopsy, or surgery, but instead helps reinforce the need for these clinically indicated tests. The lecture finishes with a deeper dive into the technology itself, its accuracy, and its workflow implementation.

Learning Objectives

• Attendees will understand why the “wait and see” approach isn’t an effective strategy for early disease detection.
• Attendees will review the different diagnostic strategies for analyzing superficial and subcutaneous masses.
• Attendees will learn about a new noninvasive technology available as a screening tool for masses.
• Attendees will evaluate the sensitivity and negative predictive value of the technology.
• Attendees will develop strategies to use this technology in their workflow and drive clinically indicated follow-up testing.