GE Healthcare Unveils Innovative Technology in Breast Cancer Imaging; Can Reduce Time from Detection to Diagnosis

PARIS, Jun 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- GE Healthcare /quotes/comstock/13*!ge/quotes/nls/ge (GE 16.32, -0.03, -0.18%) , a pioneer in digital mammography, today announced the introduction of an innovative technology to aid in breast cancer diagnosis. GE Healthcare's new SenoBright(1) Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM) technology reduces ambiguity in mammography results, enabling physicians to detect and diagnose cancer with more confidence - even in the densest part of the breast tissue more rapidly and accurately.

Working like the multiple-flash, red-eye reduction function in a digital camera, SenoBright uses X-rays at multiple energies to create two separate exposures. These resulting images specifically illuminate and highlight areas where there is angiogenesis, growth of small blood vessels potentially related to the presence of cancer.

"A CESM exam takes from 5 to 10 minutes," said Dr. Clarisse Dromain, Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute, France. "During my investigation of the use of CESM with my own examinations of patients, I have been able to better define the spread of a cancer compared to standard mammography and ultrasound, and follow-up exams with an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) validated exactly the same results. Moreover, in the majority of cases the confidence in the diagnosis is high enough that the patient can be told the results that same day," she added.

source: MarketWatch