A Better Mammogram- Digital Breast Tomosynthesis

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is an imaging technology which will change the way breast cancer is being detected. Invented by Dr. Daniel Kopans at Harvard University, this type of imaging is a remarkable improvement over conventional 2D mammographic imaging. With DBT we are now able to image the breast in slices and look at inner structures and detect cancers and calcifications much more readily than we previously did with conventional 2D mammographic imaging. Some refer to this as 3D imaging which technically speaking it is not, but nonetheless it is a better way to look at breast abnormalities. Digital breast tomography was approved by the FDA in February 2011. DBT enables radiologists to examine the breast layer by layer. Multiple low-dose images known as “slices” of the breast are acquired at different angles. Depending on the machine multiple slices can