3D Mammograms (Tomosynthesis) Q&A

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How is 3D Tomography Different than a traditional Mammogram?

In traditional 2D Mammography, the overlap of tissues can cause abnormalities like breast cancer to be hidden.  It can also cause normal breast tissue to overlap and appear abnormal.  With 3D Mammography, the X-ray tube moves at an arc to take multiple low dose images at different angles, which are then reconstructed by a computer into a series of 3D images.  The three dimensional images minimize overlapping tissues that can hide cancers.  They can also help to distinguish normal tissues that appeared abnormal because they were superimposed.

How Will 3D Tomography Help Clinicians Treat Breast Cancer?

The main benefit of 3D mammography is that it is helping to find more cancers than traditional 2D mammograms and it is helping to find them earlier when they are smaller and are more treatable.  It also helps to reduce false alarms and unnecessary callbacks by being better able to distinguish normal tissue that may have appeared abnormal due to overlap on a standard 2D mammogram.