International Ovarian Tumor Analysis

Between 2001 and 2012, we developed the input screens for the collecting during the different IOTA study phases (IOTA 1-5), and implemented the Simple Rules and IOTA LR1-2 models.  In addition, we also developed standalone software for the IOTA group, which is available for free on their website (www.iotagroup.org).

The International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group was founded in 1999 by Dirk Timmerman, Lil Valentin, and Tom Bourne to advance gynecologic ultrasound primarily in the area of ovarian tumor classification and management.

Today, more than 50 clinical sites from around the world participate in the IOTA studies. The multidisciplinary group includes gynecologists, radiologists, oncologists, as well as physicists and biologists.

In 2000, IOTA first published a consensus statement on terms, definitions and measurements to describe the sonographic characteristics of adnexal masses, which are now widely used. Because accurate preoperative discrimination between benign and malignant ovarian tumors is crucial, various predictive models for estimating malignancy risk were developed in the following years using a huge cohort of patients. The models were validated both internally and externally and proved to be highly predictive. The major practical advantage of the IOTA models is that they can be used by users with different ultrasound experience thanks to their ease of use.

Furthermore, with the publication of the ADNEX model (Van Calster et al., 2014), the first predictive multi-class model was published that is able to differentiate between four subgroups of malignant tumours.