Intermountain Press Release

Logan, Utah —Women who have mammograms at Logan Regional Hospital's Women's Imaging and Mammography Center now have the best diagnostic technology available to them, digital mammography with computer-aided detection (CAD).

Digital mammography is the newest and most technologically advanced way of taking images of the breast. From a patient's point of view, a digital mammogram feels the same as having a film mammogram. However, instead of using film to record the images, digital mammography takes high-resolution electronic images of the breast and sends them to a computer monitor. This gives the radiologists (physicians) the ability to manipulate the images in order to get the most information possible.

John Bitwinski, M.D., radiologist at Logan Regional Hospital, said, "The advantages of digital mammography, particularly those of consistent image quality and patient convenience, are compelling."

Breast cancer affects an average of one in eight women sometime in their lifetime. It is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Studies show mammograms are still the most effective way of detecting — and therefore treating and beating — breast cancer. A recent study of 50,000 women found that digital mammograms were significantly better than film mammograms in picking up cancers in certain groups of women, including women with dense breasts and women younger than 50.

For everyone else, the major benefit is the faster speed of digital machines. Other benefits include: reduced time patients spend waiting for images to be processed; lower radiation dose required for digital mammography than the dose required for film mammography; CAD, which is designed to assist radiologists in reading mammograms and flagging abnormalities that may represent cancer; and the fact that digital mammograms can be easily stored, retrieved, and transferred to other physicians and facilities.