Cairns Women’s Imaging recently installed a $500,000 3D mammography machine, a state-of-the-art device that allows doctors to screen for breast cancer while looking at three-dimensional images.
The machine takes multiple pictures of a patient’s breast from many angles.
These pictures are then combined, which forms a three-dimensional rendering of the entire breast, allowing radiologists to examine the breast tissue one layer at a time. This allows for a clear, more accurate view of the breast, with doctors able to more effectively pinpoint the size and location of any abnormalities.
Radiologist Dr Kevin Daynes said this could lead to better detection, fewer call backs and biopsies, and clearer peace of mind.
“When you are looking at a standard mammogram, all of the tissue is stacked on top of each other,’’ he said.
“What this does, is it lets us roll through that in 3D.
“If there is a cancer tucked in there, as you go through, that will come into focus.”
The centre screens about 220 women, and at least two men, within Cairns each year.