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medpundit |
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Wednesday, March 12, 2003Conventional mammography projects X-rays through the breast onto a sheet of photographic film or detector screen. Tumours, being more dense than most healthy tissues, show up as a shadow on the exposed film or screen. This detects only 65-70% of breast cancers - small tumours can be obscured by other breast structures. Moreover, only 10-20% of women who have a biopsy turn out to have cancer, as overlapping images of healthy bits of tissue can sometimes look like a possible tumour. Instead of keeping the X-ray source stationary, Eberhard's team scans the breast in an arc and collects a sequence of 10 to 20 images in a digital detector. They then use a computer to turn these images into a series of 2-D cross-sections. In this way they build up a much sharper and more detailed picture of the breast tissue. Anything that adds to the clarity of mammograms is a welcome development. posted by Sydney on 3/12/2003 07:44:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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