Humberside Breast Screening Service has installed a Philips MicroDose mammography unit to boost its breast screening programme.
The system has recently been delivered to Health Central in Hull, East Yorkshire; an integrated healthy living centre offering a range of lifestyle, public engagement and screening services including breast mammography imaging.
Commenting on the new system, which replaced an existing mammography unit, Ann-Marie Taylor, superintendent radiographer, said: “We chose it for its quick and easy imaging and also for the fact that its radiation dose for a mammography exam is the lowest on the market today.
”We have been able to re-organise our screening room and remove an obsolete processing unit so that we are now able to alter our appointments to six minutes rather than the seven minutes previously used, and as a result, we have increased our capacity at this location.”
The system, a MicroDose L30 Full Field Digital Mammography unit comes with Philips’ MicroDose patented photon-counting detector which uses less radiation while delivering enhanced image quality. MicroDose Smart AEC continuously adjusts radiation exposure depending on the density of the breast, providing a totally automated correct exposure without the need for pre-exposures, AEC adjustment or specific positioning.
Taylor said: “We are finding the system very patient and mammographer friendly and particularly like the excellent image quality we are obtaining. Using the new equipment, we are expecting a higher cancer detection rate in young women or those with dense breasts.”She added that they were now considering using the machine for osteoporosis screening.
