Hours:  Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(If you need to be seen immediately, we will make every effort to accommodate you the same day or within 24 hours.)

Mammography

St. Mary's Breast Imaging Center offers state-of-the-art imaging to facilitate early diagnosis, when breast cancer treatment is most effective. We also provide routine screening for women after the age of 40 or earlier, as recommended by your physician. Patients are examined in a comfortable, supportive environment by our friendly, knowledgeable staff.

Mammograms that look for breast changes in women who have no signs of breast cancer are called "screening" mammograms. The standard screening mammogram includes two views of each breast, one from above and one angled from the side. A trained technologist places the breast on a plastic plate. A second piece of plastic is placed on top and for a few seconds, some pressure is applied to flatten the breast and get a picture. This may be temporarily uncomfortable, but it is necessary to flatten the breast as much as possible because spreading out the tissue makes it easier to spot any abnormal details. The doses of radiation used for mammography are very low and considered safe. The entire mammography procedure lasts about 20 minutes. After the procedure, a radiologist reads and interprets the x-ray image of the breast tissue that the mammogram produces.

Our Breast Imaging Center offers a host of advanced imaging services, including:

• low-radiation mammography, with computer-assisted detection (CAD). This device scans the mammogram with a laser beam and converts it into a digital signal that is processed by a computer. The image is then displayed on a video monitor, with suspicious areas highlighted for the radiologist to review. The radiologist can compare the digital image with the conventional mammogram to see if any of the highlighted areas require further evaluation.
• 3-D reconstruction using both MRI and CT, a highly useful new diagnostic tool
• the breast coil, one of the newest MRI enhancements for detection of the smallest lesions
• stereotactic needle biopsy, an alternative to surgical biopsy, that allows certain breast abnormalities discovered on routine mammograms to be examined nonsurgically via a computer-guided needle (providing a reliable, cost-effective, and minimally invasive alternative to surgical biopsy).  A core biopsy sample of tissue is retrieved and sent to pathology for analysis.

Our dedicated mammographer, who carefully reads every mammogram, knows when to request a magnified view of a particular area of the breast and when to order additional diagnostic tests, such as ultrasound. This way, we can provide doctors and patients with the information they need to make appropriate treatment decisions.