King's College Hospital is conducting a trial into the use of new three dimensional digital x-ray technology, called tomosynthesis, for breast cancer screening and diagnosis.
At present, two-dimensional mammography is the standard type of breast x-ray used in hospitals across the UK. Although recognised as safe and reliable in detecting the early signs of cancer, 2D mammography can be difficult to read because of tissue overlap.
The so-called 'anatomical noise' associated with 2D imaging can sometimes hide cancers, or produce shadows which can falsely create the suspicion of cancer. The new technology enables doctors to look at separate 'slices' of the breast. The trial is designed to demonstrate whether this will be even more accurate than standard two-dimensional mammography.
The 'digital breast tomosynthesis' technology works in a similar way to a CT (or CAT) scan, taking multiple images of the breast at different angles. The tomosynthesis slices are then viewed one at a time or put together into a cine loop for doctors to analyse. Tomosynthesis is simpler to implement than a CT scan and requires only small modifications to existing mammography systems, whereas CT requires large complex scanners.
Over 150 women have participated in trial to date.
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