What is Mammography?
Mammography is an essential tool for the early detection of breast cancer. Regular mammograms can help save lives by identifying breast cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage, often long before it can be felt.
Mammography is a special type of medical imaging that is used to detect and diagnose breast diseases, including breast cancer. It involves taking low-dose X-ray images of the breasts to look for any abnormalities or changes in the breast tissue even before a patient or doctor can feel a lump.
Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT), also known as 3D mammography, is an advanced imaging technique that provides a three-dimensional view of the breast. It is used in combination with traditional 2D mammography to aid in the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.
In DBT, a series of low-dose X-ray images are taken of the breast from different angles. These images are then reconstructed into a three-dimensional image of the breast, allowing radiologists to examine the breast tissue layer by layer. This provides a more detailed and accurate view of the breast, making it easier to detect small abnormalities or lesions that may be hidden or obscured in traditional 2D mammograms.
The addition of DBT to mammography has been shown to improve the accuracy of breast cancer detection, especially in women with dense breast tissue. Dense breast tissue can make it more challenging to detect cancers with conventional mammography alone, as the dense tissue can mask or hide abnormalities. DBT helps to overcome this limitation by providing clearer and more detailed images of the breast.
Why is Mammography Useful in Breast Health?
Mammography is important because it can help detect breast cancer at an early stage, when the treatment is most effective, and the prognosis is best. Regular mammograms can help identify small tumors or changes in breast tissue that may not be felt during a physical exam. By detecting breast cancer earlier, women have more treatment options available to them, often including options that are less aggressive, and a higher chance of successful treatment outcomes.
