A System-Theoretic Approach to Modeling and Analysis of Mammography Testing Process

Mammography is the standardized testing process for early detection of breast cancer. In this paper, a system-theoretic method based on a Markov chain model is presented to analyze such processes. Specifically, the general testing process in a single exam room is formulated using a Markov chain model. To resolve the dimensionality issue, an iteration method, referred to as shared resource iteration, is introduced to analyze the scenarios of two or more exam rooms. Formulas to evaluate the patient length of stay and staff efficiency are developed. The extension to non-Markovian scenarios is also investigated and an empirical formula is proposed. The experimental results indicate that such a method results in a high accuracy of performance estimation. A case study at a breast imaging center of the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation is presented to illustrate the applicability of the model. In addition, the impact of patient volume increase is also studied, which shows that a capacity increase is necessary to accommodate the high demand.

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