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Digital mammography
What is digital mammography?
Benefits of digital mammography
Limitations of digital mammography
History of digital mammography
What is digital mammography?
Digital mammography is similar to conventional mammography in that
X-rays are used to produce pictures of the inside of the breast.
In conventional mammography, images are recorded on film and viewed by the
radiologist using a light box. With digital mammography, the image is converted
into a digital picture and viewed on a computer monitor. The magnification,
orientation, brightness and contrast of the image can then be altered to help
the radiologist examine certain areas more clearly.
From a patient's perspective, the examination is
the same as with conventional mammography, where the breast is positioned between
two flat plates and lightly compressed.
At present, the performance of digital
mammography is comparable to conventional mammography in terms of detecting
breast cancer. However, in the future, digital mammography may provide many
benefits over conventional mammography.
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Digital mammogram. |
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Benefits of digital mammography
- It allows easier manipulation of images for more accurate detection
of breast cancer and without the need to repeat mammograms.
- It allows faster image acquisition leading to a
shorter exam time.
- It allows easier image storage and retrieval than
film mammograms.
- It allows images to be sent over telephone lines
or a network for remote consultation.
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Limitations of digital mammography
- It does not, at present, help radiologists to
detect more breast cancers than conventional mammography.
- Its image sharpness must be improved to
provide greater resolution than conventional mammography, for
the detection of very small abnormalities.
- It currently cost several times more than
conventional mammography equipment.
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History of digital mammography
| 1970s |
Digital imaging techniques are
implemented with the first clinical use in Computed Tomography (CT)
scanning, invented by British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield in 1972. |
| 1980s |
Digital imaging techniques are brought
to X-ray. |
| 1990s |
Digital spot view mammography is
developed to allow faster and more accurate stereotactic biopsy than
traditional biopsy. |
| 2000 |
The first full field digital
mammography system is introduced, capable of imaging the whole breast. |
| 2001 |
A study begins in the US to find
out whether digital mammography is equal to or better than standard film
mammography in helping detect breast cancer. |
| Present |
Full field digital technology is not
widely available at present. However, an intermediate step called
phosphor plate technology is available at many sites in which plates
trap X-rays and are then processed and converted into a digital
picture. |
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