Joe Arrington Cancer Research and Treatment Center, one of Covenant Health System’s facilities in West Texas, has started offering women a new option, the
Breast specific gamma imaging (BSGI), for screening to detect breast cancer. The center has recently welcomed 3 women who underwent imaging using the new technique for the first time.
The center is the sole facility in the region that provides breast specific gamma imaging. The technique is used in combination with
mammography and ultrasound in order to have breast images with higher details, which aids doctors in reaching more accurate diagnosis.
Dr. Cody Cox, a physician at Lubbock Diagnostic Radiology, commented “It’s the missing piece that we’ve been wanting for a long time. Any complete breast center should have this.”
Covenant Foundation acquired the
BSGI system for a cost ranging from $200,000 to $300,000. The funds were raised during the
cancer center golf tournament. The new imaging technique is used to assess women with high risk for breast cancer. Yet, the technique cannot be considered as a substitute for mammography or ultrasound.
Moreover, breast specific gamma imaging is somewhat similar to
breast MRI, but also it cannot act as its replacement. BSGI offers simpler images with more specific details about the breast tissue, so it helps doctors in accurate detection of breast cancer especially in women with denser breasts, which are much difficult to evaluate using conventional mammography scans.
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