Download 3D Mammography (Tomosynthesis) - I-Med

What to expect on the day
A 3D mammography (Tomosynthesis) exam is very similar
to a traditional mammogram.
Just as with a 2D mammogram, the technologist will position
and compress your breast to take the images.
During the 3D mammography (Tomosynthesis) part of the
exam, the x-ray arm will sweep in a small arc over your breast
to make highly detailed 3D images.
Our radiologist is then able to view your 3D breast images in
many different ways with increased information and accuracy.
There is no additional compression (pressure) required with
3D mammography, and it only takes a few seconds longer.
The radiologist will review your images and provide a detailed
report to your doctor.
1. American Cancer Society, Facts and Figures 2012.
2. Philpotts L, Raghu M, Durand M, et al. Initial Experience With Digital Breast Tomosynthesis
in Screening Mammography. Presented at the ARRS 2012, Scientific Session 22 - Breast
Imaging: Screening/Emerging Technologies.
3. Haas B et al. Performance of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Compared to Conventional
Digital Mammography for Breast Cancer Screening. Radiological Society of North America
annual meeting. Chicago, Il, 2012.
4. Skaane P, Bandos A, Gullien R, et. al. Comparison of Digital Mammography Alone and
Digital Mammography Plus Tomosynthesis in a Population-based Screening Program.
Radiology. 2013 Apr; 267(1):47-56. Epub 2013 Jan 7.
3D
Mammography
(Tomosynthesis)
Making a difference in
breast cancer detection.
Improving outcomes
for women.
i-medradiology.com.au
Early Detection is the Key
Doctors and scientists agree that early
detection is the best defense against
breast cancer. Successful treatment and
survival rates for patients are dramatically
improved by early detection. If lesions are
found early, before spreading to lymph
nodes, the five-year survival rate is almost
100 percent.1
thinking of the pages in a book. If you look down at the cover
you cannot see all of the pages – but when you open it up, you
can go through the entire book page-by-page to see everything
between the covers. This is similar to how your images can
now be viewed.
Using 3D Tomosynthesis and 2D digital mammography
together has been proven to significantly reduce “call-backs”
by 20-40%.2, 3
In addition, 3D Tomosynthesis finds cancers earlier than
2D mammography alone, with a 27% increase in cancer
detection and a 40% increase in invasive cancer detection.4
Until now, the best way to achieve this has been
with mammography. Digital mammography provides a
2-dimensional picture of the breast and is the most
advanced technologies available. However, the
breast is a 3-dimensional object composed of
different structures, such as blood vessels,
milk ducts, fat, and ligaments. All of these
structures, which are located at different
depths within the breast, can overlap
and maybe difficult to differentiate when
viewed as a 2-dimensional, flat image.
Overlapping tissue in some cases can be
the reason for patients to be called back
for further testing.
Digital mammography has progressed to a
new technology, 3D Tomosynthesis which
has been shown to be superior to 2D
digital mammography alone.
What is 3D mammography?
3D mammography or 3D Breast
Tomosynthesis is a new technology
that allows our radiologists to examine
your breast images/tissue one layer at
a time.
3D Tomosynthesis uses high-powered
computing to convert digital breast
images into a stack of very thin layers or
“slices” – building what is essentially a
“3-dimensional mammogram”. A good
analogy for 3D Tomosynthesis is like
i-medradiology.com.au
“When breast cancer is detected early,
women have a much greater chance
of being treated successfully.”
Cancer Council Australia