Tech & Innovation in Healthcare

Question: We have several patients come in each year for screening and diagnostic mammography exams. Our practice has traditional two-dimensional mammography equipment, and our providers have trouble sometimes interpreting the images.

Does other equipment exist that provide a clearer view of a patient’s breasts?

Wyoming Subscriber

Answer: Breast imaging exams are key to locating and identifying abnormalities in the breast tissue. However, traditional 2D mammography equipment can be painful for the patient. Also, compressing the breast tissue into a 2D image makes it difficult for providers to isolate potential irregularities from the tissue.

One company has designed breast imaging equipment that eliminates the pain and produces accurate images of the patient’s breasts.

Koning has developed a 3D breast imaging device that generates three-dimensional breast images without painful compression. The Vera Breast CT captures quick 7-second

exposures with low radiation levels to produce high-contrast images with optimal spatial resolution.

Instead of standing at a 2D mammography machine during the procedure, the patient lays down on the equipment. The Koning Vera Breast CT imaging technology rotates 360 degrees around the patient’s breasts to capture real-life images of the tissue. The 360-degree view can detect small tumors and calcification clusters (DCIS).