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Innovative technique delivers lower radiation dose compared to conventional film, study shows
Compared to conventional mammography, the new method digital mammography delivers considerably lower dose of radiation, and this cutback on radiation exposure may be bigger for women who have larger and denser breasts, a recently conducted study suggests.
For the new study, a team of researchers examined data gathered from 5,102 women who were subjected to both digital and conventional film mammography.
The researchers found that compared to standard film mammography, digital mammography delivers an average 22 percent lower breast radiation dose per view. The findings of the study were published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
In a news release issued by the American College of Radiology/American Roentgen Ray Society, study author R. Edward Hendrick, said that the capacity to lower the dose of radiation for a lot of women “is another step forward for breast cancer screening with mammography, which saves thousands of lives each year."
In the mammography using digital technology, X-ray images are collected on a digital detector and saved on a computer, unlike in standard film mammography which makes use of film in collecting and storing images. Previous research release din 2005 found that compared to film mammography, digital mammography was able to detect up to 28 percent more cancers in women below 50 years of age, in pre- or peri-menopausal women, as well as in women who had dense breasts.
Hendrick added that although the radiation dose delivered by both film and digital mammography are minimal, additional decrease in the dose is an extra benefit of digital mammography on top of its improved capacity to detect cancers in women who have dense breasts.
A present, there are more than 60 percent of breast imaging facilities in the United States that offer digital mammography.
As it has now been shown that the digital technique of mammography considerably reduces radiation dose, “it is likely that access to it will continue to grow," Hendrick stated in the news release.
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