women's diagnostic imaging services - Mountain States Health ...

Digital MammographyDigital (computerized) mammography is similar to standard mammographyin that X-rays are used to produce detailed images of the breast. Digitalmammography uses essentially the same mammography system as conventionalmammography, but the system is equipped with a digital receptor and acomputer instead of a film cassette.Conventional MammogramDigital MammogramFrom the patient’s perspective, a digital mammogram is the same as astandard film-based mammogram in that breast compression and radiationare necessary to create clear images of the breast. The time needed toposition the patient is the same for each method. However, conventionalfilm mammography requires several minutes to develop the film whiledigital mammography provides the image on the computer monitorin less than a minute after the exposure/data acquisition. Thus, digitalmammography provides a shorter exam for the woman and may allowmammography facilities to conduct more mammograms in a day.Digital MammogramDigital mammography can also be manipulated to correct for under- orover-exposure after the exam is completed to help the radiologist moreclearly see certain areas of the breast. The technologist can review the imagejust seconds after the exposure, thus decreasing procedure time.Computer-Aided Detection (CAD)Computer-aided detection (CAD) systems use a digitized mammographicimage that can be obtained from either a conventional film mammogram ora digital mammogram. The computer software then searches for abnormalareas of density, mass or calcification that may indicate the presence ofcancer. The CAD system highlights these areas on the images, alerting theradiologist to the need for further analysis.Computer-Aided Detection(CAD)www.msha.com/imaging | page 5