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Stereo Mammograms Procedures

The stereo mammogram---that is, stereoscopic mammography---has become the best regarded diagnostic tool for finding breast cancer in women. With this new radiological technique, clinicians are 40 percent less likely to miss suspicious lumps and nearly 50 percent less likely to generate false positives, according to a 2007 study from Emory University School of Medicine. The basic procedures a woman follows during her mammography visit is much the same with the stereoscopic method as it is with the standard test. What differs between the two is how the mammogram is displayed to and read by the technician.

  1. Mammogram Procedure

    • The technician begins the mammogram by positioning one breast at a time atop the platform of the screening machine. A plate lowers onto the breast, flattening it to allow for clear reproduction of the tissue. Women remain dressed in pants or skirts but wear paper or cloth hospital garments.

    Reading the X-rays

    • The stereo mammography technique provides for two digital X-ray images taken from two different viewpoints separated by approximately 8 degrees. To look at the results and proffer a diagnosis (or to confirm that all is well), the "photographs" are examined on a stereo-display station. Stereoscopic mammography permits the radiologist to view the internal architecture of the breast as a three-dimensional structure.

    Rolling out Stereo Mammography

    • The researchers behind the Emory University study maintain that upgrading from standard mammography to the new stereoscopic approach at health care institutions throughout the United States would be relatively simple. It merely means performing easy renovations to existing software and equipment. The time needed to perform either test is essentially the same, as is the time required to interpret the results. One significant way in which the two methods part ways has to do with radiation exposure, which is higher in the stereoscopic scans. According to Emory University, researchers are busily working on this issue.

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