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Diagnostic Breast Procedures: Digital Mammography
The fight against breast cancer has a new weapon in its arsenal and it is
high tech. This new medical breakthrough allows women to have access to a
powerful new tool in the fight against breast cancer.
New Technologies in Breast Cancer: Digital Mammography
Rebecca Goen Tisdal, MD
Mercy Medical Center - Oklahoma City, OK
Screening mammography is the most effective way of detecting breast cancer at
its earliest most treatable stage. Many women are not getting regular mammograms,
however, because of the fear of the unknown or the inconvenience.
The breakthrough is that mammography imaging has just gone digital. GE's
digital mammography system offers new advantages over film mammography.
- The number of call backs is reduced. The extra pictures taken that are
often needed to see if the breast is normal or not are needed less often
because the image can be enhanced with the computer before they are printed
on film. Lots of information can be seen with a limited number of pictures.
- Less anxiety is generated if fewer pictures are required and results are
seen immediately.
- With digital mammography, one can electronically manipulate images - zoom
in, magnify, optimize different parts of breast tissue with just the 4
standard pictures. Special GE software allows doctors to view the entire
breast on one image. Before they needed to take different pictures at
different techniques to see things now seen in one picture with digital.
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Without Electronic Zoom |
The potential for more efficient access to mammograms is possible because
images can be transmitted, literally beamed, to another site for printing.
Results are seen more quickly. The picture appears in the room on a
computer monitor in 10 seconds. The technologist can check it for good
positioning quality and then let the patient go. The image can then be
printed and reviewed further by an expert radiologist anywhere. The
experience for the patient is much faster.
This technology is available today, world wide. Because the FDA just
approved the technology in the U.S., hospitals and clinics are now actively
making plans to get the new equipment. There are already over 25 systems
being used in other countries.
The GE system, called Senographe 2000D , is the only FDA approved fully
digital mammography system for screening and diagnosis of breast cancer.
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