This year in America, more than 184,450 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Pekin Hospital recently advanced the fight against this pervasive disease by installing a new cutting-edge digital mammography system for its patients.
This system, a GE Healthcare Senographe Digital Mammography system, provides physicians with clear and precise all-digital images, rather than images on X-ray film. What's more, the system provides the largest field of view currently available, which can be extremely helpful for precision imaging of patients with diverse shapes and sizes.
"This is new and powerful technology for the detection and fight against breast cancer," says Steve Lambiase, Director of Imaging. "Digital systems such as the new Senographe Essential allow us to offer our patients state-of-the-art mammograms that are fast and easy. And it gives our referring physicians accurate images to use in diagnosis."
In Illinois, breast cancer will affect more than 7,610 this year. Mammograms are among the best early detection methods, yet 13 million U.S. women 40 years of age or older have never had a mammogram, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.
"This new digital technology will provide both accuracy and increased ease of use for our patients," says Lambiase. "Providing outstanding diagnostic equipment for patients is a vital step to good preventive health, and one we take very seriously."
There are many advantages to a digital system. The images are clear and easy to read, and it offers an excellent view of the breast, especially near the skin line, chest wall and in women with diverse breast tissue types.
The digital image is ready to read within 10 seconds – there is no longer a wait for films to be developed to be sure the images are usable. Digital mammograms take as little as half the time of film. And if a second opinion is needed, the image can be sent electronically to a consulting physician virtually instantaneously.
The Senographe Essential at Pekin Hospital is equipped with the Seno Advantage 2.2 Review Workstation®. This workstation allows physicians to simply, quickly, and easily review patient's images, including information from multi-modality studies, at a single point of review. Physicians have the ability to pull up a patient's previous mammography exams for historical comparison or for comparison against other types of images, such as those acquired by ultrasound or MR, resulting in a more comprehensive view of a specific patient's medical history. The workstation also simplifies the sharing of information and images to referring physicians and surgeons.
Funding for the purchase of the digital mammography system was provided by the Pekin Hospital League. The League is very active in promoting services for women at Pekin Hospital and the Women's Diagnostic Center.
To schedule a digital mammogram at Pekin Hospital, please call the Women's Diagnostic Center at (309) 353-0931. |
