Houston Medical Center shows off 3-D Mammogram Technology

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Breast cancer screenings are a must for women after a certain age. You can get one at just about any hospital around, but getting one in 3 dimensions for women in Warner Robins is an option only Houston Medical Center provides.

“We’re really excited to offer this to the Houston County community,” said Director of Imaging Services Tim Sisco.

Houston Medical Center’s new 3-D mammogram technology is cutting edge and cutting the number of call back’s for women getting their breasts examined.

“When women come in for a screening mammogram, if we see something abnormal we call them back,” said radiologist Ava Powell.

The technology has gone from using 2-Dimmensional images to 3-D.

“Still images with mammography which has always been the tradition or the standard has been around a long time, however, there are cancers that get missed because you just cannot see through the tissue well enough,” said Sisco.

3-D Mammograms allow radiologists like Powell to see each layer of breast tissue all at once.

“It’s helping us find more cancer than the traditional 2-D..finding things we just wouldn’t be able to see with the 2-D,” said Powell. “It’s actually proven that it has high resolution and it has a higher detection rate for cancers,” Sisco added.

Each machine runs for somewhere around $120,000, but Sicso says it’s a small price to pay for Healthy Houstonians.

“If you put that in terms, what it does for a community and being able to detect cancers early–that’s the investment that Houston Healthcare is providing to the community,” Sisco added.

It’s recommended for women over 40 to begin regular mammogram screenings each year, but Houston Medical Center specialists recommend taking it a step further and getting the 3-D breast exam.