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Breast Cancer Blog

By Pam Stephan, About.com Guide to Breast Cancer

CT Scan Creates 3D Breast Images Without Using Compression

Saturday May 26, 2007
Dense breast tissue is hard to image with a standard mammogram, but a new technology is working to improve breast screening. A cone beam breast CT scanner is being used in a study at the University of Rochester in New York. To get the image, a woman lies facedown on an exam table, and places her breast through a hole. Her breast is not compressed while it is imaged in three dimensions by the CT scanner. The resulting image is stored in a computer, which recreates the internal structure of all her breast tissue as a 3D image, which the radiologist can rotate and zoom in on, for a thorough virtual exam. Dr. Avice O'Connell, who leads the study, says, "In certain people with the difficult type of breast, it may indeed improve the detection of small cancers."

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