Digital Mammography
Digital mammography replaces cumbersome and time-consuming film negatives with a high-resolution image on a computer screen.
One of the newest advances in diagnostics is digital mammography. Digital mammography uses x-rays, just like older systems, but the image is recorded digitally as a computer file instead of using film. In the past, the process involved exposing film negatives, then the film had to be processed (“developed”), reviewed and stored in large envelopes. If a second doctor wished to review the results, the film had to be shipped to the doctor.
Today’s digital system now in use at Phoebe requires only seconds to record each image (as opposed to up to a minute with film). The images can be viewed within seconds of exposure and can be sent anywhere in the world instantly. Management, archiving and recall of the images – stored on a computer or on a disk – is greatly simplified.
Benefits of digital mammography include:
- Shorter exam time – about half that of film systems.
- Faster image acquisition.
- Improved contrast between dense and non-dense tissue.
- Storage and recall is much more efficient.
- Image contrast can be manipulated to show detail for more accurate diagnosis.
- Images can be transmitted anywhere in the world instantly.
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