David J. Rippe, MD, Co-Director of the Simpson Breast Health Center at Florida Hospital talks about the new mammogram equipment and how it’s getting better compression.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News in September 2018.
Tell us about the new piece of equipment that you guys have and how significant that is.
Dr. Rippe: It’s very significant. The new GE Senographe Pristina 3D mammography technology with the Dueta remote is absolutely state of the art equipment. We completely love it and we’re very excited and we’re also very lucky and fortunate to have acquired it. This equipment enables us to take it tremendously forward in what we’re able to do for the patients here.
How is it going to help the patients?
Dr. Rippe: On many levels it helps. First it offers an experience that’s much improved over the older equipment that we had both from a standpoint of patient comfort and from a standpoint of reducing anxiety. And we feel that anytime you can improve the comfort that patients have during an exam and also decrease their anxiety then we’re able to get a better exam.
Have many changes been made to the mammogram over the years, this seems like the first significant change.
Dr. Rippe: Yes, I think Mammography equipment has evolved over the years and every iteration improvements are made. However, this particular piece of equipment and that is the Pristina that we have; I really see a significant improvement over what we had before.
Can you walk us through how it works?
Dr. Rippe: Everything from when the patient arrives and sees the equipment visually it’s very appealing compared to what we used to use. The lighting for example is soft lighting, the machinery is very esthetic, the surfaces are curved instead of sharp and angular. And so visually when the patient sees this equipment it’s more pleasing and more reassuring.
And controlling the compression?
Dr. Rippe: The GE Senographe Pristina 3D mammography technology with the Dueta remote enables the patient to have a sense of control. Once the mammography technologist sets the standard compression for breast imaging, patients are able to control the amount of pressure during the mammogram. You know you might think that the exam wouldn’t be perhaps as good, remember that having compression and having adequate compression is very important to getting high quality mammogram. But we’ve have found the opposite. That when a patient is part of the procedure not only is there less anxiety with that but actually the degree of compression that we see when patients control that surprisingly is better than when just the technologist alone.
So the patient you’re saying gives more compression?
Dr. Rippe: They do. That surprised a number of people in the industry but it’s absolutely true. And we see significantly better compression when the patient is made part of the process.
And does better compression lead to better image?
Dr. Rippe: It does. That’s one of the things that’s very important is to get adequate compression during mammography because, during the mammography, this allows some of the tissue to be separated out. So we see through the tissue better, so we get a better exam.
And just to tie it all together as far as the mammogram that obviously still is the first line of defense against breast cancer?
Dr. Rippe: It is yes, absolutely. It’s the foundation, we do other things as well including breast ultrasound and some other tests but mammography is the foundation.
Anything else you want to say?
Dr. Rippe: Other than we’re extremely excited about it. We’re the only facility in our area that possess the technology. We understand how fortunate we are to have it.
END OF INTERVIEW
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