Elastography

Published on: April 10, 2014

For women who are referred for a more detailed mammogram imaging appointment, the stress and scare of going to the appointment can be an emotional time. Having unclear results from a second mammogram can be even worse. Today, there is Elastography imaging used to better diagnose tumors and lesions with encouraging advances in breast imaging. Elastography has saved many women from unnecessary second appointments, and it has also been able to catch cancerous tumors at an earlier stage saving women from prolonged appointments.

Many diseases cause changes in the mechanical properties of body tissues. These changes can not be measured by computer tomography, traditional ultrasound, or magnetic resonance imagine. Elastography is a strain imaging technique that is able to identify tissue stiffness of an abnormal growth. Normal tissues and benign tumors are typically soft or elastic and will compress easily. Elastography can more accurately diagnose a malignant tumor because they will not depress at all. Elastography can add important details that define the connective tissue components and their different elasticity.

Women often do not know that there are different choices for how their breasts are viewed during a mammogram procedure. If you, or a loved one, must go for a second mammogram for further details, ask your physician or ultrasound technician about Elastography. Breast elastography can substantially improve ultrasound capability in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions. No one wants to go through unnecessary appointments to find out good or upsetting news. With elastography, women can feel more confident in their results because of the advancement in technology allowing their physicians a clearer picture of their breast tissue.

Posted on behalf of Diagnostic Radiology

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