Banner Lassen Medical Center will begin offering patients the latest in 3D mammography this month, the first hospital in the region to do so, according to Robert Leckie, MD, the director for medical imaging at the facility. Leckie said the goal is always to improve patient care and increase efficiency, and this new Hologic 3D Mammography Unit will do both.
With the new low-dose 3D mammography system, the X-ray arm sweeps in a slight arc over the breast, taking multiple images in just seconds. A good analogy for 3D mammography is like thinking of the pages in a book. Looking at the book, the internal contents of the pages can’t be seen. When opened up, a book can be leafed through, page-by-page, seeing everything between the covers.
Leckie says these 3D Tomosynthesis images have been found to identify 40 percent more invasive cancers than 2D alone. The Hologic 3D Mammography Imaging System has improved radiologists’ ability to view areas of concern in breast tissue that can result in earlier diagnosis. It has been shown that there is a 20 to 40 percent reduction in false positives and the need for additional imaging.
The new system generates 2D images from the 3D information so physicians can compare current images with previous images that were done in the 2D format. That eliminates the need for a second exposure to get the 2D image.
In addition to improved image quality, Dr. Leckie says the new unit will reduce the amount of time a patient is under compression by more than half, increasing patient comfort. “The conventional machines require 10 seconds under compression, the new 3D unit is only a four-second scan,” he says.
Dr. Leckie says the new machine will be able to accommodate nearly double the amount of patients as the conventional machine it will replace, making appointment scheduling more convenient.
The new 3D unit will be used to serve patients beginning February 19th.
The Medical Imaging Department is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Banner Lassen Medical Center is located at 1800 Spring Ridge Drive in Susanville. For more information, call (530) 252-2120.
