GE Healthcare’s Discovery NM750b is the most recent addition to the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center located in Detroit. With it, the center becomes the first hospital in the Midwest to offer GE’s newest molecular breast imaging device, which makes it possible to detect breast cancer in women considered to be high-risk, especially those with dense breast tissue.
“Although molecular breast imaging does not take the place of mammography, it offers another option for patients who need additional imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),” said Sharon Helmer, MD, clinical service chief, imaging department, and director, breast imaging, Karmanos Cancer Center, and clinical associate professor, Wayne State University School of Medicine. “Not only will this help eliminate false positives, it may help to detect breast cancers earlier when the disease is highly survivable.”
MBI looks similar to, and replicates the views acquired by, mammography but it does not produce x-ray radiation. The compression is approximately 30% of a standard mammogram. Instead, MBI uses a nuclear isotope to detect tumors. The patient receives a small injection of a radioactive tracer that locates metabolically active tumors (showing blood flow). The patient can choose to sit or stand while the scanning takes place. Each image view takes up to 10 minutes.
