LIVING with Cancer
can be quickly viewed by the technologist to ensure she got the shot. Because the image is digital, it can be stored and sent electronically, allowing viewing from wherever it is needed. Software programs can help the radiologist manipulate the images to highlight problem areas, giving greater flexibility in mammography interpretation. Glenda Chears, 60, has always been diligent about getting her scheduled mammograms and found that the convenience of the Mobile Mammography Unit made it especially easy to
Glenda Chears
Take a Picture
get in and out in a timely manner. It was on the unit in June 2009 when a spot on her digital screening mammogram concerned her radiologist. Mrs. Chears was referred to
Technology keeps mammograms looking sharp
a surgeon for a biopsy.
Technology is eVer-eVolVing,
film, which is fine for most women,
was diagnosed with Stage I breast
with new ideas and new products be-
but doesn’t work as well for women
cancer,” she said.
ing produced at a dizzying rate. That’s
with dense breast tissue. The tech-
The digital Mobile Mammogra-
true at University Hospital, too.
nologist would have to take the film
phy Unit offers women the added
University’s Mobile Mammogra-
and develop it while the woman
convenience of getting a mammo-
phy Unit went digital in 2008 as a
waits – taking around 10 minutes to
gram off site. With a mobile unit, the
way to get faster, crisper images
find out if the image is clear enough
center is able to take breast health
that eliminated the need for chemi-
to use – and once developed, the film
care to underserved populations, to
cal development.
could not be changed much. Under-
working women at business and in-
or overexposure couldn’t be fixed.
dustrial sites, and to community and
are hard to miss:
digiTal. With digital mammogra-
church groups throughout the area.
TradiTional. In traditional mam-
phy, an image is taken and stored
These mammograms are the key to
mography, the image is created on
directly into a computer, where it
early detection of breast cancer. ❖
The differences in the technology
52
University Health Care System
“It was a very small lump, and I