A COMFORTABLE MAMMOGRAM?
Yes, and other impressive new breast cancer screening technologies
Curved mammogram paddles. A needle biopsy in half the time. Tumor detection aided by artificial intelligence (AI).
The University of Chicago Medicine is expanding its breast imaging services, adding new state-of-the-art tools to improve comfort, convenience and accuracy.
In December 2018, UChicago Medicine partnered with Solis Mammography to bring the latest technology to Chicago. The hospital is also conducting industryleading clinical trials to find new breast cancer screening tools.
Early detection is critically important, because in 2019, an estimated 286,600 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and about 41,700 women will die, according to the American Cancer Society.
BREAST-SHAPED MAMMOGRAM PADDLES:
To make mammograms more comfortable, UChicago Medicine has begun using SmartCurve technology, developed by Hologic in partnership with Solis Mammography. This unique technology offers curved compression paddles, shaped like a woman’s breast, and a SmartCurve Breast Stabilization System with 3D imaging. It can be used by the vast majority of women, unless they have very small or large breasts or certain types of implants. “Women who have tried it told me it was revolutionary,” said Alex Sardina, MD, Solis Mammography’s Chief Medical Officer. UChicago Medicine upgraded all of its mammogram machines to high-tech 3D models in August 2019, and SmartCurve paddles have already been added to many of them. They’re in use at UChicago Medicine Orland Park, where Solis Mammography will open a new Comprehensive Breast Imaging Suite early next year, and in the newly renovated mammography clinic in the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine (DCAM) in Hyde Park. In early 2020, SmartCurve technology will be available at UChicago Medicine’s South Loop and new River East locations.
UPRIGHT AFFIRM BIOPSY SYSTEM:
A faster, less-intimidating breast biopsy will be offered at select UChicago Medicine sites next year. Hologic’s new AFFIRM biopsy system lets patients sit upright in a chair, as a high-tech machine is centered over the breast, calculating the precise spot where the needle needs to be inserted. AFFIRM cuts the test time in half, to about 15 to 30 minutes.
QUANTX:
QuantX is a novel breast imaging analysis technology based on two decades of research by UChicago Medicine’s Maryellen Giger, PhD, a worldrenowned pioneer in computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). QuantX helps analyze breast MRIs using AI and a large reference database to help radiologists interpret results and identify cancerous and non-cancerous breast lesions. The FDA recently cleared the new technology for use after a clinical study showed QuantX improved the discovery of breast cancer tumors by 39% and increased overall diagnostic improvement by 20%. The imaging team at UChicago Medicine is now evaluating QuantX and considering it for future patient use.
ULTRAFAST ABBREVIATED MRI:
UChicago Medicine is one of the country’s leading sites for breast cancer clinical trials. Ultrafast Abbreviated MRI is a revolutionary technology developed by UChicago Medicine researchers that scans the breast every three seconds for about 10 minutes, completing the MRI in a fraction of the time it normally takes — and bringing costs down as well. Data from government-funded clinical trials at UChicago Medicine will soon be incorporated in large national trials.