Innovative new breast exam machine proves to be more accurate, less painful

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WINK News

Diagnosing breast cancer is getting easier and more accurate in Southwest Florida, and it’s all thanks to an innovative device.

A device made by General Electric called Senographe Pristina and approved by the FDA last fall screens patients at DeSoto Memorial Hospital in Arcadia.

Doctors say it helps reduce false diagnosis and give patients peace of mind.

“I found it in the shower. I was just washing and I was like uh oh!” said 35-year-old Desta Nania, talking about a lump she found on her breast several months ago. “I got so scared, because I have cancer on both sides of my family. It was very nerve racking.”

Doctors were able to quickly determine her tumor was benign, meaning not-cancerous.

Dr. Gregory Arov is a radiologist who uses the 3D pictures the device takes to determine the danger and said it helps problem solve, “I can tell the patient definitively that there is no problem.”

The device takes multiple images of the breast and puts it all together.

How does it work? When the patient comes in for an exam, they step up to the machine where there’s a plate similar to a traditional mammography machine. They place their breasts on it and the tech will lower a top plate to compress it, and that’s when they start taking the pictures.”

Unlike a traditional mammography, patients say is not painful. Nania said, “I had always heard that it was really painful, and it wasn’t painful at all. I was very happy about that.”

And with the machines ability to rotate, exams are quick and relatively easy and around 10 minutes.

Dr. Arov said the procedure is covered by insurance and Medicare.

In addition to DeSoto Memorial Hospital, there is also a machine at Bonita Community Health Center according to GE’s website.

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