The Breast Health Center at Athens Regional Medical Center is excited to offer the latest in breast cancer screening advances, low dose Genius™ 3D MAMMOGRAPHY exams. Utilizing advanced breast tomosynthesis technology, Genius exams are clinically proven to significantly increase the detection of breast cancers, while simultaneously decreasing the number of women asked to return for additional testing.
 
The Breast Health Center at Athens Regional is the only center in Northeast Georgia to offer 3-D mammography services while also being recognized with a full accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and as a Breast Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.
 
In conventional 2D mammography, overlapping tissue is a leading reason why small breast cancers may be missed and normal tissue may appear abnormal, leading to unnecessary callbacks. A Genius exam includes a three-dimensional method of imaging that can greatly reduce this tissue overlap effect.
 
A Genius low dose 3D MAMMOGRAPHY exam includes both 2D images and tomosynthesis scans. During the tomosynthesis portion of the exam, an X-ray arm sweeps in a slight arc over the breast, taking multiple images. A computer then converts the images into a stack of thin layers, allowing the radiologist to review the breast tissue one layer at a time. A low dose Genius exam requires no additional compression and each scan is complete in just a few seconds.
 
The platform for the Genius exam is the Hologic Selenia Dimensions system, the only clinically superior breast tomosynthesis system as approved by the FDA.
 
“The new system is recommended for women of all ages and breast densities. The system allows our radiologists to more effectively pinpoint the size, shape and location of abnormalities. This leads to better detection and greater peace of mind for our patients,” said Connie Phelps, ARMC Breast Health Center manager.
 
Large clinical studies in the U.S. and Europe have demonstrated the positive benefits of a Genius 3D MAMMOGRAPHY exam. The largest study to date on breast cancer screening using the Genius exam was published in the June 25, 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Findings include:
 
• A 41% increase in the detection of invasive breast cancers.
• A 29% increase in the detection of all breast cancers.
• A 15% decrease in women recalled for additional imaging.
 
“Athens Regional’s Breast Health Center is committed to the fight against breast cancer. In offering the Genius exam, the Breast Health Center provides the latest and most effective imaging tool for breast cancer screening,” said Phelps.
 
The breast is a three-dimensional object composed of different structures located at different heights within the breast. These structures can overlap and cause confusion when viewed as a flat two-dimensional image. This confusion of overlapping of tissue is a leading reason why small breast cancers may be missed and normal tissue may appear abnormal, leading to unnecessary callbacks. Using breast tomosynthesis technology, the Hologic system creates a 3-dimensional image of the breast structure, which enables radiologists to more clearly see through overlapping tissue to detect cancers, often at an earlier stage.
 
While low dose Genius 3D MAMMOGRAPHY exams include a 2D image for use during image review, they do not require an X-ray exposure to generate the 2D image because it is created directly from the tomosynthesis slices. The Hologic system is the first FDA-approved breast tomosynthesis system in the U.S. Hologic Genius 3D MAMMOGRAPHY exams are now available in all 50 states and over 50 countries. To date, more than 8 million women have been screened with this advanced screening system.