Anyone who has ever had a mammogram knows that the operation is far from fun. Indeed, to obtain an image of optimal quality, the operator must strongly compress the breast between two plates, which can be rather painful. The pressure level depends on the size of the breast, the elasticity of the skin, its constitution too (the denser it is, the more rays are needed to get a good image) … and too bad if it is. wrong !
To try to get around this obstacle at breast cancer screening, Woutjan Branderhorst, researcher in the biomedical engineering department of the academic medical center in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), studied the different forces exerted and developed a new device that helps to make the image clearer by avoiding the discomfort from mammography.
This device, which can be easily added to existing mammography devices, allows the operator to see how much pressure he is exerting with his machine and not how much force, as is usually the case. “By visualizing the pressure, he will know which one should not be exceeded and mammograms will be less painful” underlines the researcher.
In France, one in 8 women will experience breast cancer in her lifetime. Some women have more risk factors that should prompt them to have a mammogram. These factors have been listed by the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS). It is :
– Age (3/4 of breast cancers are diagnosed after 50 years)
– Personal history of invasive breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ;
– Family history of breast cancer;
– History of chest irradiation in Hodgkin’s disease;
– Certain abnormal proliferation of breast cells: atypical ductal hyperplasia, atypical lobular hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ.
Read also
When do I have the mammogram?
Breast cancer in numbers
Breast cancer: controversy over organized screening
