HomeDiscover...Discover... |
Health CareAt CaroMont Imaging, digital technology is giving doctors another tool in early detection of breast cancer. In February the radiology practice installed digital mammography technology. “I really think we are finding a lot more small cancers,” said Dr. Annamarie Collier of Gaston Radiology. The radiology practices reads all X-rays for CaroMont Imaging. “We are seeing so much more information.” The new technology has found cancers as small as three millimeters. Before digital, Collier literally used a magnifying glass to read X-rays shot with conventional film. Today, the digital images she pulls up on her computer monitor are so clear that skin pores are visible. Compared to these crisp images, the ones shot with film look murky. A computer program also checks each image for signs of abnormality. With the digital image, Collier can magnify a portion of the image and use a contrast tool to get a clearer look. The digital images also are easier to store and use less radiation. “We've been very pleased,” Collier said. She also can circle areas on the image and attach a note with instructions for the technician who may be making follow-up images for patients who need additional images taken. One screening trial found that digital mammography is significantly better than film-based mammography for women under 50. Women with dense breasts, and those who are peri- and premenopausal, also fare better with digital imaging, according to the trial. What patients experience during the procedure is very similar to how conventional mammograms were performed. Connie Wilson, Gaston Radiology manager, compares the advance to strides made in communication devices. “It's the same phenomena in the health care system,” she said. CaroMont opted to replace all of its conventional mammography equipment with digital to avoid having to decide which patients would receive the high tech pictures. “I'm proud of them,” Wilson said. At CaroMont Imaging, mammograms are performed in a separate part of the facility known as the Women's Imaging Center. Tile floors, soft lighting, terry cloth robes and wood-grain finish doors and fixtures give the area a spa-like feel. Mammograms, along with monthly breast self exams and yearly clinical breast exams, are three components of finding breast cancer early. This early detection is largely credited with successful treatment. The Women's Imaging Center has another important addition, Donna Neil, a registered nurse who works as a breast health navigator. Neil works with women who have received abnormal mammogram results. A three-year breast cancer survivor herself, Neil explains procedures and provides emotional support. |
|