WSVN — 3D mammograms help doctors catch the smallest of breast cancers earlier and save more lives, but the high tech tests also came with a slight health risk. 7’s Danielle Knox shows us how new technology is making safer screenings.
Patricia Lewis is a busy realtor but always makes time for her yearly mammogram.
Patricia Lewis: “My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 52.”
But some women put off annual screenings because mammograms are uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful. Doctors say new technology is making it easier.
Dr. Mary Hayes: “We are in a really great place in women’s imaging now, specifically for mammography.”
Dr. Mary Hayes says it started a couple of years ago with tomosynthesis.
Dr. Mary Hayes: “That’s the 3D mammogram that makes dime thin sections of the breast tissue.”
The clearer picture has been critical at catching the smallest cancers, but there was a bit of a downside.
Dr. Mary Hayes: “Patients had a little extra radiation but it was well worth it because we were able to find 40 percent more killer cancers.”
Now Memorial Healthcare System has new technology that is improving 3D imaging. It’s called C-View.
Dr. Mary Hayes: “C-View is basically a low-dose mammogram. It provides us all the same information, but at 40 percent less radiation to the patients.”
The image on the left is a 3D mammogram using C-View, while the one on the right is an older image using a higher dose of radiation.
Dr. Mary Hayes: “Even to an expert eye, some of the experts can not tell the difference, so this is a great mammogram picture with 40 percent less radiation.”
And for patients, there’s another big benefit.
Dr. Mary Hayes: “It’s half the time of the mammogram compression that they used to experience…”
Because fewer pictures need to be taken.
Patricia Lewis: “It did seem shorter, absolutely.”
Patricia says knowing she is getting the latest technology with less radiation helps put her mind at ease.
Patricia Lewis: “It gives me the peace of mind I was looking for.”
3D mammograms with C-View are now available throughout the Memorial Healthcare System.