January 18, 2021 • Courtesy of NWI.life
Written by Allison Tunstall
Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center at Methodist Hospitals recently rolled out new 3D mammography machines at the Northlake campus in Gary and the Southlake campus in Merrillville. These new pieces of technology provide updated features while still offering the same high-quality imaging technology of the previous versions that patients have come to expect from Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center.
“We’re very excited to bring this technology to our Northlake and Southlake campuses,” said Jennifer Sanders, Manager of Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center. “The new mammography machines have new features that make the experience more comfortable for patients, while still providing the same state-of-the-art imaging we’ve had since 2011 that’s vital for early breast cancer detection.”
The Hologic 3D mammography has been the Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center standard since 2011 when it was the first hospital in Indiana and one of the first in the country to receive the technology. The Hologic 3D mammography can find and capture breast cancer at three to four millimeters, a vital process for catching the disease early and saving lives.
The updated Hologic technology continues this standard of detecting breast cancer at the smallest level, all while providing a more comfortable experience during a stressful time in patients’ lives.
“The updated machines feature SmartCurve paddles that are curved instead of the previous flat paddles,” Sanders said. “Before, they have always been flat, but now they are curved and fit the shape of the breast better. That will help ease the compression of the breast when we apply pressure during the procedure and make it more comfortable.”
Along with the SmartCurve paddles comes routine software updates and a new color and appearance of the machine, but all with the same efficiency that Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center prides itself on.
“It’s really a phenomenal piece of equipment, along with the machines we’ve had since 2011,” Sanders said. “It’s still going to provide a 40% reduction in call backs. The machines are more comprehensive like that and we will continue to see an increase in finding more invasive cancers compared to the 2D digital mammography machines of the past.”
“To be the first in the state to receive this equipment back in 2011 and then to be able to continue with that tradition is amazing,” she continued. “It’s really the patients who are getting this top technology, so the fact that we can continue to provide the cutting-edge technology to find and treat breast cancer is very important for our radiologists and our team.”
For more information about Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center or to make an appointment with a radiologist, please visit their website at https://www.methodisthospitals.org/clinical_services/breast-care-center/.
