The All-New Women's Imaging Center offers the latest technology in cancer screening biopsies and more.
This fall, women who need breast imaging services—such as screening or diagnostic mammography, ultrasound or interventional procedures— can get the care they need at one location: the new Women’s Imaging Center at 368 Lakehurst Road in Toms River. “We have relocated our breast services so they’re under one roof in a relaxed, warm and welcoming environment,” says William R. Goodman, Director of Imaging and Radiation Oncology Services at Community Medical Center (CMC). Women can also have bone density testing and other ultrasound imaging services at the new Center. Laboratory services are conveniently located on-site.
The newly renovated space has two mammography units (a traditional, two-dimensional machine and a new three-dimensional one). If a woman’s mammogram results indicate that she needs follow-up testing, she can often have an ultrasound or biopsy the same day. Patients can remain in their gowns in the comfort of a private waiting room. Clinical breast navigators are available to provide guidance for patients who are diagnosed with cancer.
New Technology
To help detect breast cancer at its earliest stage, the Center is offering patients the latest imaging technology—tomosynthesis, which improves radiologists’ ability to identify a potential cancer by eliminating overlapping breast tissue. With this technique, the breast is positioned and compressed just as it is for a conventional mammogram, but the X-ray tube moves in an arc around the breast. Several low-dose X-rays are taken from different angles.
Computer processing builds these “slices” of the breast into a three-dimensional image that radiologists can manipulate. They are able to examine each slice individually, helping them to distinguish harmless structures from tumors—even in dense breast tissue. This leads to fewer call-back examinations and less anxiety for patients.
The tomosynthesis unit at the Center features “curved paddle technology,” making the mammogram more comfortable for the patient, says Cynthia Barone, DO, Regional Director of Breast Imaging for CMC, Monmouth Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus.
The Center is also introducing the use of wireless technology for breast surgical procedures. Typically, a surgical wire is placed in the breast with the guidance of mammography or ultrasound on the day of a procedure. The surgeon then uses the wire as a “road map” to remove the area of concern in the breast. With the new wireless technology, called Magseed, a radiofrequency clip is placed in the breast to mark the area of concern that needs to be removed by a breast surgeon. On the day of surgery, the surgeon uses a handheld transducer to locate the clip. The clip can be placed at any time prior to surgery, making the process more convenient and reducing stress on the day of the procedure.
“I’m excited about the new Women’s Imaging Center because we have newer technologies and more precise ways of detecting cancer, and the tests are more comfortable,” says Sumy Chang, MD, a fellowship-trained breast surgeon at CMC. The result? A better patient experience.