Digital Mammograms: The Faster, Easier Breast Cancer Screening

Faster. Easier. Clearer. All those things are possible with digital mammograms, a new type of diagnostic imaging that’s changing how women are screened for breast cancer.

All women age 40 and over should have a mammogram every year, according to the American Cancer Society. Mammograms are X-rays that help diagnose breast cancer, the second most common cancer in American women after skin cancer.

Traditionally, having a mammogram meant getting four X-ray images, two per breast, on film. A technologist would run the film through a processor and then hang the processed films on a view box for a radiologist to read.

Now, with digital mammograms, the process is more like using a digital camera instead of a traditional camera. There’s no film to process or negatives to handle. The images are stored and viewed on a computer.

“Women still need to have the four X-rays — and the compression and positioning are the same — but processing the results is much faster,” says Christine Clark, radiology director at Euclid Hospital. “Instead of 15 to 20 minutes, women finish their digital mammograms in about five to 10 minutes.”

And the results are easier to diagnose. Radiologists can magnify, sharpen, change contrast or otherwise adjust digital images to see breast tissue more clearly. That’s good for all women, but especially for those under 50. Younger women tend to have denser breast tissue in which cancer is more difficult to detect.

“Digital mammograms are ideal for younger women who need to be screened because they found a breast lump or have a high family risk for breast cancer, for example,” says Christine. 

Plus, with digital mammograms, radiologists can easily see changes in patients’ breasts by comparing their current and past images on the computer. They no longer need to wait for past films to be pulled from records or delivered from another hospital.

“Medina radiologists can view your past digital mammograms no matter where you had them in the Cleveland Clinic system,” says Christine.

And second opinions are easier now that images can be sent electronically to other healthcare providers.

All hospitals do not offer digital mammograms, but they are becoming more standard, especially at Cleveland Clinic hospitals. Euclid Hospital offers this advanced type of mammography and bone density screenings.

To schedule a digital mammogram or other diagnostic imaging at Euclid Hospital, call 216.636.8200.